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touchline
The journal of spor t & r isk with an international perspective
Issue 4
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Contents
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when Germany lost to Italy in the semi-
final more than 60 cardiac events per day
were reported, compared to the average
of about 15 per day.
Does that mean that sport is bad for your
health?
The overall highly positive health
effects of participating in sport, despite
the higher risk of injury, are medically
proven. But what about the passive
impact of sport? In our feature article,
Mr Oon Jin Teik, CEO of the Singapore
Sports Council emphasises the positive
effects that sport brings to a country.
He says that the role of the SSC is
primarily focused on promoting sport
internally to Singaporeans because of the
tremendous benefits that sport brings by
improving health, developing community,
generating a sense of national pride,
stimulating the economy and promoting
International friendship.
Most governments appear to agree by
ensuring that sport is given a prominent
place in the political agenda. Bidding
and winning hosting rights to major
events can have a remarkably positive
effect on the sentiment shown towards
a government.
That being the case, given that England
is due to host some of the premier
sporting events over the next ten years
(the Olympics in 2012, the Rugby League
World Cup in 2013, the Rugby World Cup
in 2015 and possibly the World Cup in
2018) perhaps Prime Minister Gordon
Brown’s prospects of re-election are not
as bleak as they first appear!
September 2009
Is sport bad for
your health?
Very few things in life can generate
such emotion and passion as sport.
Whether as spectator or participant,
sport seems to bring out the very best,
and sometimes the worst, in people.
Most of us will have experienced the
sheer, unbridled joy, the exhilaration
and the emotion that comes with
seeing our team or country win a
major trophy or event.
At a recent presentation I showed a
video tape that had been recorded
by someone in the crowd when John
Aloisi scored the decisive penalty which
took Australia through to the World
Cup finals in 2006. As the ball hit the
back of the net, the crowd went wild -
screaming, hugging each other, some
laughing, others crying with emotion.
There was pandemonium. Similar
scenes were witnessed recently in
London when England regained the
Ashes from Australia in the fifth test,
and it is the same for any major event,
whether it is winning the cup or league
or grand final, or even, sometimes,
avoiding relegation!
But of course for every winner,
there are also losers. They will be
experiencing the opposite emotions.
The positive and negative impact of
winning and losing at sport can have
a dramatic effect on all aspects of life.
For example, it has been calculated
that the economic stimulus to a country
winning the World Cup is significant.
However, such emotion can have
dire consequences. A study published
in the
New England Journal of
Medicine
looked at the incidence of
cardiac events in Germany during
the 2006 World Cup and found that
spectators were almost four times as
likely to suffer cardiac events when
their team played, and particularly,
when they played very close, high-
stakes matches. During the knock-out
matches where Germany defeated
Argentina in a penalty shoot-out and
Steve Boucher
touchline@sportscover.com
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