SHAMATEURISM

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32981, 29 July 1972, Page 4

SHAMATEURISM

The Olympic Games are, by tradition, the world’s greatest amateur sports festival. But today, because of all the pressures on athletes and the national prestige involved, they have become an enormous shamateur scandal—with part-time athletes pitted against out-and-out professionals. And, ironically, it is a situation the Olympic organisers are actually fostering—by insisting that the amateur ideal be protected at all costs. In the third and last of his three articles on modern Olympic competition, BRYAN EGAN examines the situation.

Lillian Board was to sign with a sports clothing company as a designer. Although she had studied design at both an internationally - recognised academy and the Royal College of Design, and was embarking upon designing as a career, there was considerable official opposition. Poor Dorothy Hyman was banned for life after writing a book under her own name.

But these strict interpretations are scarcely universal. There are any number of perks showered by nations on their sports stars without infringing the amateur status.

The French, for instance, have a national institute of sport in the Bois de Vincennes, where athletes

are kept in comfort fo as long as they wish, whil provided with every facil ity-

In all Communist countries, the jobs of top “amateurs” are purely nominal. And these jobs keep them in reasonable comfort without interfering in any way with their athletics. There are State training camps where athletes are trained and kept. In addition, Russian athletics stars are sent to the Black Sea resorts to train in mid-winter.

In many Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden, athletes are perfectly free to sponsor advertisements.

If there is one nation more simon-pure than all

the others, it is probably West Germany—a country which resists commercialism in sport at all levels. Even their professional World Cup footballers are barred from accepting any money outside their normal wages. In Mexico, 1970, some of the younger German players discovered that most of the other teams were being paid by a worldfamous sports goods firm to wear its tracksuit* and boots.

When the players spoke to team manager Helmut Schoen about it, he said: “Of course, you can be paid, if you so wish. But you will have to go back to Germany first to collect!”

Top Sports equipment manufacturers could well be flash points in the coming Olympics. The organisers have already stipulated that running shoes must not be identifiable with the manufacturers. As some 80 per cent of the athletes are expected to be wearing sports shoes which are unmistak able in appearance, it would seem an impossible rule to enforce.

All of which is one more reason why the Munich Olympics could mark the end of an era.