Beauty and the beast

UMPIRE`S POST

The most beautiful game in the world has frequently had its share of unpleasant times.

Think of the best known modern footballers and chances are that at least some of the images would be unpleasant, at times even violent. The enduring memory of Zinedine Zidane is his charge on a rival in the last World Cup final, which may have been the primary reason why France lost that all-important game.

David Beckham has his head butt against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, Maradona his frequent brushes with drugs and authorities, Roy Keane his ignominious exit from the 2002 World Cup, Wayne Rooney his alleged visits to houses of ill fame, and Rio Ferdinand has been said to be fond of strip clubs (he even broke a curfew before England's World Cup qualifying match with Greece to go to one). Check the headlines anytime and they are more than likely to talk of some footballer involved in something unsavoury. Even now, England and Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard is facing trial for alleged affray in a nightclub.

According to a study, levels of the male sex hormone rise when footballers play a game. It is at its highest when they play a game at home and also goes up significantly when they play bitter rivals. But the link between testosterone and violent behaviour has never been established beyond reasonable doubt. So it can perhaps be put down to the way footballers are perceived, by others as well as by themselves.

It is a macho sport in which physical supremacy brings global glory, adulation and money. A player who can be aggressive, even intimidating, on the field earns respect. Footballers revel in their masculinity, howl at and abuse opponents, and often get into harsh tackles. At the same time, they have to operate under tight rules, the kind that only little kids are subjected to in the real world. All this is easy to make one go soft in the head. Footballers may be forgiven for believing that their raison d’etre is physical supremacy, and for forgetting to draw the line at the playground’s boundary.

Then there is the attitude of the fans, who love that superstar footballers live the life ordinary people cannot: courting models, drinking endlessly, driving fast cars, and having endless sex, sometimes in groups. The football culture is marked by its regressive attitude to women (incidentally, women’s football is perhaps way behind even women’s cricket). It has been claimed that young football players often practise what is called “roasting”, where they will all have sex with the same groupie. It is not this column’s case to condemn consensual group sex, yet the perception and image are not easy to brush off as insignificant.