The UPSC’s recent emphasis on Ethics GS 4 is not without cause. Ethics GS 4 is no longer a subject one can just read through and answer based on memory. It requires a substantial amount of intellectual labor and conceptual clarity. This article and assignment covers those aspects from the lens of real life sports scenarios.
Sports represent life in a condensed form. It is especially true in case of professional sports where players compete to the extremes of physical and mental limits.
Plato in his Utopia recommended the first 10 years of education to consist of only Sports and physical training. Schools consisted of sports grounds and gymnasiums only. This is because true human character is learnt and exhibited best in sports.
In the environment of highly competitive international professional sports, players are stretched to such extremes that they are working purely on instincts. With that adrenaline flowing through their veins, emotionally charged players are stripped down to their natural animal instincts. Physically muscle memory takes over and emotional bus goes in self driving animal behavioral mode.
Ethics GS 4 in sports Case 1-
The boundaries of what is right and what is wrong are blurred. The sharp corners of morality lay bare the true character of players. Such an ethical conundrum was again on display in the cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh during CWC-23.
Here is the video of the incident –
If we look for it, such ethical dilemmas are thrown often in sports. No matter how much the rules and laws of the game are detailed. The players giving in their everything find ways to challenge the laws with such interesting ethical quandary.
TO ERR IS HUMAN ?
We all can relate to such slippages of moral conduct. In fury of anger or passion , everyone can recollect some behaviour which they are not proud of in hindsight. However, it takes a lot of courage to accept our follies and ask for forgiveness.
Ethics GS 4 in Cricket Case 2-
Let’s take a look at contrasting post action responses of the players.
Here is Brendon McCullum speaking at the Spirit of Cricket lecture, 10 years after the incident with Murali.
He Said –
“..I became incredibly competitive; winning was everything and I didn't really care what it took to win. I now look back on that part of my game with regret. There are many things I would change if I could. I guess growing up in a cricketing sense is no different to growing up in life, except that it's a much more public rite of passage where everything you do is scrutinised. There's no escaping some of the things I've done. It's on video - posterity in the worst possible way. You probably want an example and fair enough too. Much as it pains me to talk about it publicly, I'll tell you how I ran out Muttiah Muralitharan. We were playing Sri Lanka at Lancaster Park in Christchurch in late 2006. Kumar Sangakkara scored a magnificent 100 in the second innings. When Kumar reached his 100, Sri Lanka were nine down - the ball was still in the air being returned to me as wicketkeeper when Murali left his ground to congratulate Kumar. When the ball arrived in my gloves, I removed the bails and appealed. Murali was given out and we went on to win the match. Not surprisingly, the incident created controversy and bad feelings. The Sri Lankans were stunned. Their captain Mahela Jayawardene said at the time: "Legally it was run out, the ball was alive, but we play in an age where we talk about the spirit of the game. Hopefully it won't happen again. It's not the way to play cricket." If I could turn back time, I would. We were within the laws of the game but not the spirit and there is a very important difference which is glaringly obvious to me years later, and it's that aspect that I want to focus on a little more this evening. Because nearly ten years after running out Murali, I view things very differently and I would hope that I am am a very different person. Kumar Sangakkara is here tonight. Sanga, I admire you enormously. I regard you as a friend. And I take this opportunity to apologise to you and Murali for my actions on that day.” Again, we can in the heat of the moment, laid bare to animal instincts, even the best prepared and most professional of us can slip on such treacherous terrain.
Now, coming back to the SL vs BAN match, it is interesting to hear the post match comments of the Bangladesh captain. He was unapologetic and holding his ground. The justification he gave was that he felt he “was at War” .
Here is what he exactly said –
“… I don't know if it's right or wrong. I felt like I was at war. Whatever I had to do, I did it. There will be debates. Today that (the time out) helped, I won't deny that!" Shakib Al Hasan said after the match.”
Does that logic of taking moral liberties in the guise of War form a fair argument?. Here the captain however is not addressing the intelligensia, who shall be debating the nuances of the moralities and legalities involved. He was addressing the public at large , where the underlying assumption seems to be that in extreme situations such as war, human societies may throw away their veils of moralities.
Pushed to the limits, a human shall exhibit instinctive moral behaviors. The foundations of the values are tested in such circumstances. How deep the values have been planted in the subconscious is challenged.
Be it in sports or war.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
You are the Captain of your national cricket team. Your team has been doing badly in an international competition and is all but eliminated.
Today during a crucial match, winning which will allow your team to atleast qualify for next tournament and salvage some pride, you have an opportunity to get an important opposition player out and help your team win. The way to get the batsman out is within the laws of the game but said to be against the spirit of the game.
1- What are the Ethical Issues involved in the scenario? 200 words
2- What decision will you as Captain take? Justify your decision. 200 words
All the best
-Amit Kumar Singh IRS
The writer is Amit Kumar Singh IRS, Joint Commissioner- An authority on GS 4 Ethics. You can see some recent case study discussions of Ethics GS 4 UPSC Mains PYQs here-