Intense competition brings out the best in people. It also brings out the worst.
Undeniably, cheaters often prosper. The downside is that when they get caught, they bring the whole delicate house of public relations cards tumbling to the ground.
The selfish, incredibly stupid action of this year’s Women’s Soccer coaching staff has thrown a pall over our whole Olympic team. It has thrown a shadow over the gold medal won in the last Olympics. It has filled our media coverage with negatives, and once again raised questions about the benefits of elite athletics.
Face it, the general public has a long memory for cheating scandals. When I think of memorable moments in Canadian Olympic history, Ben Johnson’s doping comes high on the list. “Dronegate” is going to be our legacy for decades to come. It puts us into the company of the Russians and the East Germans. (And, to be fair, the American track team in the Eighties. Of course, they never got caught. They just died young.)
The Anatomy of the Cheat
Okay, we’re working at the highest elite level. Victory is often a matter of centimetres or milliseconds. In such an atmosphere, if you can find an edge that improves your performance by a fraction of a percent, it may make all the difference.
So, there is a temptation to push the rules just a little. Slippery swimsuit fabric, better bobsled steering and the like. Some of it is legitimate and becomes part of the sport. Some is considered unfair, and new rules are made.
As I have noted in many other cases, any new technology starts out with no regulation. Those who get in on the benefits profit for a while, but then the 5% of humanity that we make 95% of the laws for overuse the new tech, and rules must be made. Drones are on the cusp in this respect.
But sometimes there is already a rule, and if it is broken, we move to a different level. It’s called cheating.
The Three Stooges Scenario
This drone incident is a case of stupidity on an Olympic scale. A certain level of “information gathering” has always been part of the Games. The real stupidity is first, thinking no one would notice a drone buzzing around. But second and stupidest is not realizing that there was a French law against having a drone in that area. Cheating against Olympic rules is pretty bad. Breaking the laws of the host country in order to cheat is public relations suicide.
The Punishments
I’m sure the soccer officials did their math carefully. The six point penalty probably means that Canada has to win all their games by a good margin and certain other teams have to lose, but there is still a chance for a medal. Otherwise, they might as well throw them out of the tournament.
The drone pilot and the assistant coach he worked with are obvious rejects, and have already been sent home. It is difficult to believe that the head coach was receiving their data and not knowing the source. Can you picture it?
“New Zealand is switching to a three-four defense.”
“How do you know?”
“Oh, I just…had a hunch.” Nudge, nudge wink, wink.
A year’s suspension without pay seems to be getting off lightly
Many Questions
To the average fan, the simple matter of spying on the other team seems wrong. But we don’t know the ethos of the sport of soccer and Olympic soccer specifically. We need more information. I assume there is a rule against using drones to spy on any sports practice. But what are the actual rules that were broken? How long has the Canadian team been using this cheat? How widespread is it in the sport? It may be that further sanctions are possible.
The Bottom Line
Like it or not, a country’s Olympic record is a big part of its worldwide reputation, and these culprits have embarrassed the whole nation. When the government is budgeting for sports, I hope they consider whether elite Olympic competition is the place to put our tax dollars.