16/08/2024

Integrity

To have ‘integrity’ - evolved from the Latin adjective integer, meaning whole or complete – means being honest and have strong moral principles. In sport, people with integrity do not cheat – and that includes management.  The next few months will reveal the integrity of Manchester City’s owners and management.

Remember how Everton were docked points - initially ten reduced to six on appeal -  in November after being found to have breached the league's rules relating to spending and losses, partly blamed on the rising cost of financing their new ground that was under construction.

Discussions around sport integrity includes words like fairness, inclusivity, honesty, trust, values, ethics, morals, beliefs, respect and fairness. Traditionally, sport integrity focuses on subjects such as doping, match-fixing, corruption, or cheating – on and off the pitch, court or track. 

“I look for three things in hiring people. The first is personal integrity, the second is intelligence, the third is a high energy level. But if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you,” stated Warren Buffett, American investor and philanthropist, who is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. As of 2024 his net worth  is US$128.1 billion. Honesty is the best policy; easier on the memory.

Integrity has siblings called honesty, truthfulness and straightforwardness that are trustworthy, loyal, fair and sincere while keeping their distance from lying, cheating and theft. 

Remember how Pilate asked Jesus, “what is truth” (Jn 18 38) and left the room before he heard an answer.  Had he waited, he would probably have found out that truth is “the accurate perception - and communication - of reality”. What we say is true if it corresponds to the way we think things actually are – to the facts.

However, reality is not perception. Perception is not reality; it is our take on, our understanding of reality. Very hard to tell ‘the whole truth’ as only God sees things 360 degrees and in context. Trying to be honest leads to a fulfilling, free life. Honesty is not just about telling the truth. It's about being real with yourself and others about who you are, what you want and what you need to live your most authentic life. Honesty - including admitting our innate bias - sharpens our perception and allows us to observe everything around us with finer clarity.

The contents of your heart may be declared. As, “your love makes me strong, your hate makes me unstoppable!” stated Cristiano Ronaldo (born 1985), Portuguese professional footballer who now plays as a forward for and captains both Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and the Portugal national team.

“The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.” This from Zig Ziglar (1926-2012), an American whose sport was writing and motivational speaking.

“A lot of times in sport if you try to tell the truth it seems like an excuse,” admitted Sanya Richards-Ross (born 1985), a retired Jamaican born American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being the 2012 Olympic champion, 2009 world champion, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, and 2005 world silver medalist

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is what others think of you. Make each day your masterpiece. Never lie, never cheat, never steal. Nothing will work unless you do. Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” taught John Wooden (1910-2010 !), American basketball player. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood”, as head coach for the UCLA Bruins he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in a 12-year period.

His famous quote, “Success is never final, failure is never fatal, and it's courage that counts,” still resonates around the world of sport. John never stopped. He consistently left the past to focus on the present, regardless of prior success, or failure.

Kathleen Marie Ireland, an American whose sport was super-modelling in the 1980s and 1990s, best known for appearing in 13 consecutive ‘Sports Illustrated’ covers, encouraged us to “keep integrity and your work ethic intact. So, what, if that means working a little harder? An honorable character is your best calling card, and that’s something anyone can have.”

If you ask Serena Williams (born 1981) a question, she'll give you an honest answer. Serena, as you may remember, is an American former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No.1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association for 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No.1 five times. 

According to Adena Andrews – a black American journalist - the tennis star once said she hates spending time on "anything that has to do with working physically."   Then, a few months later, Williams displayed some of the most refreshing honesty you'll ever see in sports. 

After defeating her sister at the U.S. Open, Williams had to answer a question about why she wasn't smiling. Her response was truth-perfection. 

Reporter: “You just won a match. Normally you smile when you win, you come here, you laugh. What happens tonight? Is just because you beat Venus or because you're thinking about what is going next? What's wrong?”

Williams: “It's 11:30. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't want to be here. (Laughter.) I just want to be in bed right now. I have to wake up early to practice.”

First, the negatives: what not to emulate. 

In thrall of victory at any cost, temptations are never far away. Argentina's World Cup quarter-final against England in Mexico in 1986 became one of the most famous games in football history thanks to one man. Played at the famous Estadio Azteca, the match was taken over by the greatest player on the planet at the time - and, for some, of all time - Argentina's captain and No.10, Diego Maradona.

But while Maradona's second goal of the game encapsulated his brilliance perhaps better than any other, his first was an equally perfect example of his ability to cheat. We are talking, of course, about the 'Hand of God', as Maradona dubbed the opening goal himself after punching an aerial ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton. 

Then there is the most notorious individual Olympic cheat, Boris Onishchenko  a former Soviet modern pentathlete who competed at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics. From 1967 to 1974, he took part in six World Modern Pentathlon Championships, winning gold five times. Sadly, he is best known for his disqualification from the 1976 Summer Olympics - and subsequent lifetime ban - for cheating by means of an illegally modified epée that signaled it had scored when it had not.

Alas, Russia has an appalling record in sport dishonesty. In 9 December, 1919 the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from major international sporting events for four years, on charges of tampering with doping-related reports; a carrying on of the cheating the USSR - and East Germany - had been doing for decades.

Then the positive. Who to emulate.

Cricket had its magnificent honesty moment in Australia’s semi-final against Sri Lanka in 2003. 

It was when Adam Gilchrist - great name - walked back to the pavilion despite being given not out by the on-field umpire. He knew what he had done: an inside-edge onto pad off the bowling of Aravinda de Silva.

Having scored over 15,000 runs across all forms of international cricket, completed in excess of 800 dismissals behind the stumps, won both the World Cup and the Ashes on three occasions - as well as becoming the first man to hit 100 Test sixes - there is some delightful irony that his ethical stance is far better remembered.  

I said, ‘great name’ as not only was ‘Adam’ the first man, but ‘Gilchrist’, a Gaelic surname stemming from “Gille Chrìost” or “Gille Chriosd”, meaning "servant of Christ". 

How would you, dear reader, like to be remembered? As that Boris, a Maradona or a Gilchrist?

Every time I take a funeral, I ask myself “What will be said at mine? How moving will my eulogy be?”   These questions have helped me to keep on ‘the straight and narrow” – so far.