SPORT
 Arguments against Professional / Competitive Sport Sport has become a business.
Professional sport encourages people to compete for money.
Many sports stars are only concerned about money and fame.
Some athletes take drugs in order to win at any cost.
Competitors are often selfish and rude.
They are not good role models for children. All sports should be amateur.
Sports should be leisure activities rather than jobs.
People should do sporting activities for enjoyment and health reasons.
Taking part is more important than winning.
 Arguments for Professional Sport
Professional sports are the same as any other business.
Many people are employed in the sports industry.
People should be able to use their talents to earn a salary.
Sports stars entertain millions of people.
Money is necessary to improve facilities and train athletes.
The level of professional sport is much higher than that of amateur sport.
 Arguments for Competitive Sport
Competition is a natural instinct in humans.
In daily life we compete to get jobs or the highest grades.
Sports are a safe form of competition.
Competition is healthy because it pushes us to give our best.
Competitors and fans can release energy and aggression.
Supporters of teams feel a sense of belonging to a community.
 Opinion: professional sport salaries are too high
Sports professionals earn too much money.
They do not provide a vital service.
Football players, for example, earn enormous salaries by simply kicking a ball.
We could all live happily without professional football.
Life would be difficult without doctors, engineers and other vital professionals.
Society does not seem to value these professions as highly as professional sport.
Sports salaries should be compatible with the wages most people earn.
 Opinion: professional sport salaries are fair
It is fair that the best professionals earn a lot of money.
Sport is a multi-million-pound industry.
There is a large audience of sports fans.
Sports on television attract many viewers.
Sports stars have dedicated hours of practice to developing their fitness and skills.
Only the most talented among them will reach the top.
A sports career may only last 10 years.
Sports fans are willing to pay to support their teams.  Sport and Politics
Some people think that sport and politics should remain separate.
Governments are involved in the hosting of sporting events such as the Olympics.
These events attract investment and create jobs.
The Olympic Games are an advertisement for the host nation.
They attract huge numbers of visitors and sports fans.
Wealthy countries tend to hold these events.
Developing countries should be given the chance to become hosts.  Extreme sport -
Extreme sports such as sky diving and skiing should not be banned -
so-called extreme sports are not as dangerous as many people think -
All sports involve some element of risk, and there should always be clear
regulations and safety procedures to reduce the possibility of accidents -
People who take part in extreme sports are usually required to undergo
appropriate training so that the dangers are minimised -
For example, anyone who wants to try skydiving will need to sign up for
lessons with a registered club, and beginners are not allowed to dive solo;
they must be accompanied by an experienced professional -
the protective equipment and technology used in sports from motor racing
to mountain climbing is constantly improving safety. -
people should all be free to decide how they spend their leisure time as
long as they understand the risks -
it would be difficult to enforce a ban -
most risky sports, like base jumping or big wave surfing, are practised far
away from the reach of any authorities
 Benefits of sponsorship for the world of sport -
Sponsorship plays a vital role in the operation of many sports events in the world -
To take the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics as examples; these events
require millions of dollars to organize and coordinate, and sponsors such
as Coca Cola or Sprite, provide much needed money -
If there were no sponsors, the price of a spectator ticket would be
extremely high because this would be the only revenue to cover the costs of the events -
However, many people would not be able to afford to attend such
matches, which might make the event organizers face bankruptcy
 Negatives of sponsorship for the world of sport -
There are downsides if sporting events use sponsorship from companies
producing harmful products for the public and society -
For exemple, when alcohol and tobacco firms become the sponsors of the
sposts competitions, they will advertise their brand images and
manipulate people to use their products. -
Getting exposed to certain adverts on a regular basis, people can easily
develop a positive association with those products and embark on using them. -
It is easy to imagine how many pp will be influenced by these unhealthy
products during and after global sposting events.
 Negatives of holding international sporting events -
The main concern is that the increased waves of visitors who come to
cheer their participants in competitions may be linked directly to environmental polution. -
If local councils cannot control travellers rigorously with certain
regulations about littering, we can see a large amount of good packaging
lying scatteredly on streets, in stadiums, at public stations or even on
beaches which may eventually end up in oceans or lakes. -
A second worry is about the high demand for accommodation with the
aim of catering for visitors from other parts of the world. -
This may lead to the destruction of natural habitats to make way for high-
rise hotels, harming severely many wild species -
In addition, these buildings are likely to be disused and abandoned as
sporting events come to an end and the costs of maintenance can become a huge economic burden.
 Benefits of holding international sporting events -
The major benefit is that such events are an advertisement for the host nation. -
Perhaps the best example of this would be Dubai where the football match
of FIFA World Cup between Viet Nam and UAE took place. -
Dubai gained more global reputation thanks to organizing this match successfully -
This also partly stimulated people to go to Dubai on holiday -
From an economic perspective, many football fans travelled to Dubai to
support spiritually the football team of their hometown, and they
contributed to the economy of the host nation with the money they spend
on a rich variety of goods and services -
In terms of career, these big events attract both domestic and international
investments in hospitality industry and tourism, and this creates many job
opportunities with regular salaries for local people and enhance their quality of life