Graft Is Worldwide

SCANDAL upon scandal continues to break out in the world of international sport. A newspaper has revealed that some of the world's leading sports administrators could end up in jail if allegations of corrupt dealings are proved. The freshest scandal stems from the collapse of ISL (International Sport and Leisure), a company contracted by, among others, the governing body of international football, FIFA, to market the game worldwide. Ugandan television viewers would be familiar with a number of ISL programmes on their screens. ISL's bankruptcy led to the cancellation, two weeks ago, of the World Club Championship, and FIFA President Sepp Blatter's hold on this most popular of sports has subsequently become tenuous. Last week, the International Cricket Council received a report into corruption in the game which revealed that match-fixing may have been going on in England in the 1970s. The Olympic movement has for the last two years been reeling from a bribery scandal over next year's Salt Lake City (USA) Winter Games. Switzerland, Britain, America. How, one may ask, could graft grow to such massive levels in these bastions of probity? The answer lies in the fact that all human beings are potentially weak, and what keeps us on the straight and narrow, alongside our individual morals, is the institutions in place. Sport has, whether in the developed or developing world, traditionally been viewed as a harmless movement where volunteers worked for the recreation and general well-being of mankind. There were never the strong checks and balances that characterise other aspects of life. These will now have to come in place. This should teach Ugandans and Africans, who tend to despair at the massive corruption around us, that the basic requirement for evolving upright societies is the development of strong institutions. Ends