Vatican Conference On Sport And Faith

"The Vatican is presenting a conference on sport and faith to world leaders from Wednesday [October 5, 2016,] to Friday [October 7, 2016,] in Rome." [1]  Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President Pontifical Council for Culture said, "'We need to return to when we used sports as a moral instrument. We need to go back to the ethics of sports because it's both a moral and spiritual principle.'" [2]  Who is he kidding?  Does he know how much money is being generated in the sports market globally?  If not, maybe he should read the paragraph quoted below [3]:

Over the next five years to 2015, global sports revenues will grow to US$145.3 billion at an annual compound growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7 per cent due to an improved economy, a rebound in TV advertising, the on-going migration of sports to pay TV and the resurgence of financial services and automobile companies to sponsorship.

With this much money involved, is there room for morality and spirituality in sports?  Listen to the seven-time le Tour de France winner cyclist Lance Armstrong's doping confession here [4] and read about the New England Patriot's quarterback Tom Brady's deflated balls here [5].  The very long article concluded that "it was 'more probable than not' that Patriots employees were deliberately releasing air from footballs and that [Tom] Brady knew about it." [6]  Then there is infidelity.  Read about golfer Tiger Woods' extramarital sexual escapades here [7].

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean from the United States, "[t]he Sunday Times ... [on April 3, 2016,] published claims that a British doctor, Mark Bonar, had prescribed performance enhancing substances to some 150 athletes, including Premier League footballers. Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City and Birmingham City were all named by the newspaper as having current or former players prescribed medicines by Bonar." [8], [9]

As an aside, Lance Armstrong's net worth in 2012 was estimated at US$125 million [10], Tom Brady's 2016 net worth was estimated at US$172 million [11] and Tiger Woods' 2016 net worth was estimated at US$825 million [12].  Was any one of these sports figures particularly moral or spiritual?  The hope is that not every sports figure is like these men, that many are moral and spiritual, even those whose paychecks are big.

What about faith?  Is faith hidden somewhere in the sports world in between the billions and the lies, and the lies and the doping?  Perhaps it is.  The Vatican conference on sport and faith starts today, October 5, 2016, in Rome.  This blogger is waiting to find out from this pope how faith can be an ingredient in a concoction of wealth, deceit and illicit drugs.


[1] http://www.romereports.com/2016/10/04/vatican-presents-world-conference-on-sport-and-faith
[2] Ibid.
[3] http://www.big4.com/pricewaterhousecoopers/pwc-global-sports-market-to-grow-to-us145-3-billion/
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_0PSZ59Aws
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/sports/football/deflategate-new-england-patriots-nfl-science.html
[6] Ibid.
[7] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-3078432/Tiger-Woods-CHEATED-ex-girlfriend-Lindsey-Vonn-real-reason-split.html
[8] http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/85/england/2016/04/05/22041582/soccer-is-one-smoking-gun-away-from-a-real-doping-scandal
[9] http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/insight/article1684584.ece
[10] https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=lance%20armstrong%20net%20worth%202012
[11] http://moneynation.com/tom-brady-net-worth/
[12] http://moneynation.com/tiger-woods-net-worth-why-its-not-a-billion-yet/