Ethical Issues In Sports

There is a need for ethics and sportsmanship in athletic competition. It is evident that society places great value on competition and that those who coach and play serve as role models for those who aspire to be athletes themselves. However, today athletics, athletes, and athletic competition fail to consistently provide examples of ethical behavior and good sportsmanship. The behavior of athletes during competition becomes a reflection of the school and the coach. It will probably be the only time that the athlete has an opportunity to display what they learned within a program. That is why it is important that coaches model what type of behavior they want to see their athletes perform in practices and games. Brown (2003) states

The Rutgers Men’s Basketball head coach – Mike Rice was reportedly physically and mentally abusing his players. It wasn’t until a video of the practices which landed in the hands of the “Outside the Lines” that Coach Rice was immediately fired. The athletic director, Tim Pernetti, was informed by athletes and staff of the abuse that Coach Rice was causing to the team. Months have passed with nothing being done. It wasn’t until a video was shown to Pernetti that he started the investigation and later suspended Coach Rice for three games and fined him $75,000. Many felt that the penalty was not severe enough and that Rice should have been fired. Besides the penalty and fine, Rice was ordered to also take anger management classes and someone could be assigned to observe his behavior in the practices. The president of the university, Robert Barchi, also saw the tape and signed off the initial punishment for Rice. Although there were no evidence on Rice attending the anger management classes and only the athletic secretary was seen observing the practices, Rice continued to coach and his abuse also

Murdock a little more seriously. He could have immediately fired Rice after viewing the film because his behavior was unacceptable in all manners. He could have brought in the players that were being harassed in the video for a thorough investigation. Pernetti could have been pro-active in this situation and called in Rice and let him know of his actions being unacceptable and that a formal apology could be made to the team. Pernetti could have held a coaches meeting and inform all coaches of their code of conduct and the seriousness of abiding by the rules.
Robert Barchi could have called in Pernetti and viewed the video with him and ask him to explain why such penalty had taken place instead of removing him. The president could have followed up with the case to see if the fine was paid and reported on Rice’s attendance in anger management. He could have assigned Pernetti to attend the practice to observe Rice since the allegations and evidence on video was pretty harsh. Barchi could have gone with his gut feeling after viewing the film and fired Rice himself.
Choices for Those Indirectly