What is Fair Play?
Fair play is a complex concept that comprises and embodies a number of fundamental values that are 🔑 not only integral to sport but relevant in everyday life.
Fair competition, respect, friendship, team spirit, equality, sport without doping, respect 🔑 for written and unwritten rules such as integrity, solidarity, tolerance, care, excellence and joy, are the building blocks of fair 🔑 play that can be experienced and learnt both on and off the field.
What do the fundamental values of fair play 🔑 mean?Fair competition
To enjoy the fruits of success, it is not enough to win.
Triumph must be measured by absolute fair means, 🔑 honesty and just play.
Respect
For every athlete, playing by the written rules is mandatory, and respecting the unwritten ones is a 🔑 must.
Fair play requires unconditional respect for opponents, fellow players, referees and fans.
Friendship
Rivalry on the field does not exclude friendship.
On the 🔑 contrary, friendship could grow from noble rivalries.
Team spirit
Individuals can be strong on their own, but they are much stronger in 🔑 a team.
Sharing the moment of victory with your team is the ultimate pleasure.
Equality
Competing on equal terms is essential in sport.
Otherwise, 🔑 performance cannot be measured properly.
Sport without doping
Fair play means not cheating by taking drugs or doping.
Anyone who does this ruins 🔑 the game for everyone else.
Integrity
Being honest and having strong moral principles are essential to fair play.
Practicing sport within a sound 🔑 ethical framework is vitally important if you aim to be a true champion.
Solidarity
It is important to support each other and 🔑 share feelings, aims and dreams.
Mutual support brings mutual success on and off the field.
Tolerance
The willingness to accept behaviour or decisions 🔑 you may not agree with develops your self-control.
Ultimately, that could be the deciding factor when it comes to winning or 🔑 losing.
Care
True champions care about each other as they are well aware that they could not be where they are without 🔑 having been cared for by others.
Excellence
Sport engages us in a collective effort to pursue human excellence.
Joy
Pierre de Coubertin, the father 🔑 of the modern Olympic Games said: "The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight.
The essential thing 🔑 is not to have won, but to have fought well.
" Competition can be intense, but you should always first look 🔑 for joy when practicing any sports.
You should never forget about the play even in the heat of the fight.
How do 🔑 the fundamental values of fair play contribute to the betterment of the world?
Fair play is not a theory.
Fair play is 🔑 an attitude that manifests itself in behaviour.
Whenever we act in the spirit of fair play we contribute to building a 🔑 peaceful and better world.
Without fairness and trustworthiness the established order of our society is at risk.
If we do not play 🔑 by the rules, we ruin the spirit of the game and it is impossible to play with destroyers of the 🔑 game.
Fair play, which is an essential and central part of successful involvement, promotion and development in both sport and life, 🔑 can teach people tolerance and respect for others.
It allows them to integrate into society and create a sense of teamwork.
Fair 🔑 play in sport is capable of giving hope, pride and identity, and it is able to unite where nationalities, politics, 🔑 religions and cultures often divide.
Cooperation in the spirit of fair play delivers even greater results than pure gamesmanship in all 🔑 walks of life.
It plays a key role, the role of a catalyst in today's society as a means of improving 🔑 quality of life and human well-being.
How is fair play defined by the various stakeholders of sport and society?
Fair play for 🔑 champions of sport
There is no sport without fair play and there are no champions either.
"The important thing in life is 🔑 not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.
" Baron 🔑 Pierre de Coubertin
"It takes more than crossing the line first to make a champion.
A champion is more than a winner.
A 🔑 champion is someone who respects the rules, rejects doping and competes in the spirit of fair play.
" Jacques Rogge, IOC 🔑 President
"Fair play gives sport the character of beauty.
Fair play is a common language, the cement of sports that is capable 🔑 of gathering together the whole sports world.
There are many champions, but the champion of champions is the one who trains, 🔑 competes and lives in the spirit of fair play.
" Jenő Kamuti, President of the International Fair Play Committee
"We cannot understand 🔑 fair play unless we link it to moral values such as the spirit of justice, fairness, and human dignity.
This "broad" 🔑 vision makes fair play accessible to all and underpins all its specific applications.
Thus, respect, loyalty, tolerance and the healthy body 🔑 are the marks of fair play in sport.
Reciprocity plays an essential role in competition: one cannot do without one's opponent, 🔑 and sport demands a respectful attitude towards the other; respect must go to the loser as well as to the 🔑 winner.
In order for there to be justice, equality of opportunity is as necessary in sport for leisure as in competitive 🔑 sports, and in the latter, it must exist at all stages of training.
Fair play calls for the greatest understanding of 🔑 the social environment of competitors and of different cultures.
" International Fair Play Committee, Declaration 2011
"The notion of fair play is 🔑 a universally understood concept, which underpins all of sport.
Without fairness, sport is devoid of any meaning or purpose.
Worse still, it 🔑 can be a detrimental experience for its participants.
But fair play is also a philosophy - one of respect for others, 🔑 and respect for the institution of sport.
It leads to an agreement, between all of those involved in sport, on the 🔑 values and lessons that we want sport to teach our children and ourselves.
Playing fair also has to do with making 🔑 choices.
As we interact with each other in sport, or as spectators of sport, we must regularly consider and define what 🔑 we think is right and what is not.
Sport engages us in a collective effort to pursue human excellence.
As our children 🔑 interact with each other in sport, their ability to make good choices about fair play issues matures along with their 🔑 ability to think and learn about what makes for a rewarding and fulfilling life in society.
" Canadian Centre for Ethics 🔑 in Sport
"Fair play incorporates the concepts of friendship, respect for others and always playing within the right spirit.
Fair play is 🔑 defined as a way of thinking, not just a way of behaving.
" Code of Sport Ethics, Council of Europe
Fair play 🔑 for champions of everyday life
"Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we 🔑 are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit.
" Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics
"Fair play is a positive 🔑 concept.
Sport is a social and cultural activity which, practiced fairly, enriches society and the friendship between nations.
Sport is also recognized 🔑 as an individual activity which, played fairly, offers the opportunity for self-knowledge, self-expression and fulfillment; personal achievement, skill acquisition and 🔑 demonstration of ability; social interaction, enjoyment, good health and well-being.
Sport promotes involvement and responsibility in society with its wide range 🔑 of clubs and leaders working voluntarily.
In addition, responsible involvement in some activities can help to promote sensitivity to the environment.
" 🔑 Code of Sports Ethics, Council of Europe
