Editorial: Sideline swearing in sport

Andrew Bonallack.

We've grown used - perhaps far too used - to the "norm" of bad behaviour on the sporting field.

For me, football is king where it appears almost acceptable to abuse the referee and other players, and as a consequence the culture extends to the sideline, where parents and supporters can shout abuse towards the field. When I covered sport in Wellington, I tended to concentrate on rugby and rugby league, because I was less inclined to cover sports where swearing was the norm.

But now it seems international cricket, with its robust tradition of sledging, is descending into abuse, tainting what is normally a vigorous rivalry between New Zealand and Australia. Now the MCC will launch a trial that will basically bring in red or yellow cards to club, university and school cricket to stamp out excessive sledging and cut back on violent behaviour.

This kind of behaviour is learned behaviour, and it is right that it start at school level.

Youngsters are watching our international cricketers, the Black Caps, who have always been held up as decent enough role models, and they are perceiving that the drive to succeed in sports, the drive to win the game, includes abusive attacks on other players.

Having done competitive sport at a national level, I understand that those who succeed so tremendously in their chosen sports are not going to be saints 100 per cent of the time. You need a level of aggression, you need to be intensely focused and committed. Yet rugby players will still call referees "sir". A judo fighter does not backchat - ever. That is learned behaviour, learnt from a young age, and inspired by the behaviour of role models at the top of their game.

Sports decline when the abuse supersedes the joy of sportsmanship and the intensity of competition. In the end, those on the sidelines want to see a real game - not egos.