Index EquityIntegrityResponsibilityRespectFirstly, it is imperative to understand the underlying ethics in sport and competition. We must then highlight the differences between gaming and sportsmanship. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Skill in the game is based on the principle that winning is everything. Athletes and coaches are encouraged to bend the rules where possible to gain a competitive advantage over an opponent and to pay less attention to the safety and well-being of the competition. Some of the key principles of skill in the game are: Winning is everything It is only cheating if you get caught It is the referee's job to spot mistakes and athletes and coaches have no inherent responsibility to follow the rules The end always justifies the means Some examples skills in the game are: Faking a foul or injury Attempting to gain an advantage in a game Tampering with equipment, such as taping a baseball bat to hit the ball further Hidden personal fouls, such as grabbing a player underwater during a water polo match Inflicting pain on an opponent with the intention of knocking them out of the game, such as the Saint bounty scandal. The use of performance-enhancing drugs. Joking or intimidating an opponent. A coach who lies about an athlete's grades to keep him eligible to play. All of these examples place more emphasis on the outcome of the game than on how it is played. A more ethical approach to athletics is sportsmanship. According to one model of sportsmanship, healthy competition is seen as a means of cultivating personal honor, virtue, and character. It helps create a community of respect and trust among competitors and in society. The goal of sportsmanship is not simply to win, but to pursue victory honorably by giving your best effort. Ethics in sport requires four key virtues: fairness, integrity, responsibility and respect. Fairness All athletes and coaches must follow the established rules and guidelines of their respective sport. Teams that seek an unfair competitive advantage over their opponent create an unlevel playing field that violates the integrity of the sport. Athletes and coaches are not discriminated against or excluded from participating in a sport based on their race, gender or sexual orientation. Referees must apply the rules equally to both teams and cannot show partiality or personal interest in the outcome. Integrity Similar to fairness, in the sense that any athlete who attempts to gain an advantage over their opponent by means of a skill that the game itself was not designed to test demonstrates a lack of personal integrity and violates the integrity of the game. For example, when a player pretends to be injured or fouled in soccer, he is not behaving in a sportsmanlike manner because the game of soccer is not designed to measure an athlete's ability to fail. Faking is a way to intentionally deceive an official into making a bad call, which only damages the credibility of the officiating and ultimately undermines the integrity of the game. Responsibility To be a sportsman it is necessary that players and coaches take responsibility for their performances, as well as their actions on the field. This includes their emotions. Many times athletes and coaches make excuses as to why they lost the game. The most popular excuse is to blame the refereeing. The honorable thing to do instead is to focus only on the aspects of the game you can control, i.e. your performance, and ask yourself where you could have done better. Accountability requires players and coaches to be.