Communications and Media

Misconducts and cheating in the sports arena is not something new in the world. Many sport personalities are well known of involving themselves in drugs, changing their ages, their gender types and even pretending to be sick incase they are not prepared to play a game. It is a common thing in all games, which is usually unnoticed by the sports fanatics, whose only aim is to enjoy the game. The cheating or misconduct is not only present with the players, but also with the leaders of the sport companies and the coaches. In many instances, the sports personalities suffer more in the sports arena more than they would in the civil life. From the case studies that have been analyzed, it is a fact that cheating and misconduct by the sport personalities leads to harsh penalties compared to civil life.

Recent cases of sports misconduct
Tiger Woods
The recent Tiger Woods scandal has evoked a lot of international concern. Perhaps the reason why it was so catchy was because he is a top golf sport celebrity. In this sense, he is supposed to be of very high integrity so as to influence the upcoming golf players positively. Additionally, the sport companies that he played for went at a loss because of the tainted image. He had to go through very severe consequences as sexual misconduct is a very serious crime in the sports arena. After the sex scandals he had were exposed, several companies pulled out their relationship with Tiger Woods. Some of these companies were Accenture and Gillette. This meant that there was a considerable period of time in which Tiger was supposed to be away from any marketing appearances of the companies. As a result, Tiger took a leave of absence, well known as a mega-mulligan, so as to perfect his marriage (Kanter 2010, par.1 2).

Example of a civil case on adultery
There is a great difference in the treatment of sportsmen and soldiers accused of adultery or any other sexual misconduct. The penalty is a one- year confinement accompanied by the forfeiture of all the individuals payments, including the retirement benefits. However, this is just what is stated in the law books, because the rule is not actually practiced. Ordinarily, if a soldier is accused of cheating on his or her spouse, the offense is not seriously handled. The possibility of the soldier facing punishment from the court is very low. In fact, an adultery charge cannot be heard alone, there must be an additional crime accompanying the adultery charges, for example, lying to the superiors at work or failure of obeying the stipulated laws of a soldier. For instance, a recent Colorado case portrays this scenario. An Air Force enlistee was involved in group sex with minors. Additionally, he also provided liquor to them, which is also a crime. As the law states, such a person is supposed to be behind bars for one year, and be denied all benefits, including the retirement benefits .However, the enlistee, even after pleading guilty, only received a two months prison sentence with a bad conduct discharge, and hard labor. His salary and benefits were not withdrawn. This is the opposite of what the sportsmen and women face in regard to penalties related to adultery (Koerner 2010, par.2).

Marion Jones Steroid Misconduct
The use of steroids by sportsman and sportswomen is also a very serious crime in the sports arena. In most cases, the sports people end up suffering more compared to the other people who use steroids, and are not in the sports field. For example, Marion Jones case evoked several silent protests from people, who argued that her sentence was more than harsh. Marion was not only accused for using steroids, but also for refusing to admit that she had been using them so as to enhance her sports capability. Her prison term was six months long, with eight hundred hours of community service work, and an additional two years of strict supervision (Jeralyn 2009, par 1).

Before the judge imposed the sentence, he stated that all athletes in the society had an elevated status. They were sources of inspiration, entertainment and most importantly, role models for upcoming sportsmen and women, as well as children in the whole world. Therefore, her sentence would be heavier compared to a normal civil offenders sentence, because Marion had lied to the children who admired her, instead of serving as a sportsmanship and hardworking role model. Therefore, the judge clearly revealed that the sportsmen had a greater civic responsibility compared to the other people who were not in the sports career (Jeralyn 2009, par.2)

Example of a civil case on drug use
In 2009, there was a scandal in Boston which involved police officers dealing in steroids. The expectations of the people would be that since the police are the people who maintain law and order in the society, the sentence imposed on them incase of any misconduct would be severe, compared to any other persons. However, this was not the case in Boston. The eleven police officers involved in the scandal were a source of humiliation to the department. As a result, the officials in the Boston police headquarters tightened all the drug policies that they had, which resulted to the imprisonment of four of the policemen (Cramer 2008, par.1 2).

However, the rest received very minor sentences. Seven of these officers admitted that they had used steroids many times in their professional work. The punishment that was imposed on them was only a written reprimand to a 45-day suspension without pay. Even after their misconduct, none of the officers were fired. Additionally, none of them faced any criminal charges (Cramer 2008, par.1-2).

Basing on the Tiger Woods and Marion Jones misconduct in the field of sports, it is clear that the two received severe punishments as compared to the police officers in Boston, where only four of them implicated in the scandal received prison terms. The rest had lighter sentences, and they were neither suspended nor fired, unlike Marion Jones and Tiger Woods did. This clearly depicts the fate of the sportsmen and women, that they usually receive heavier punishments compared to the other people in other professions, whether teachers, doctors or policemen.

Cheating and misconduct at a glance
Since time immemorial, cheating in sports has always been debated on. This is both on the local and the international program. The incidences will continue to evoke reactions from the media, popularly known as the fourth estate and the sporting public. Various people have come up with ways of cleaning up the sports arena, from non-players to players, off and on the pitch and in other arenas. Cheating and misconduct is a global problem which as all the games administered, enjoyed and played. The decent women and men in sports are sole guardians of the sports industry there is a very tight link between influential cheating by the mighty so as to fulfill their interests and their egos and the technical cheating by the stage performers (Badjan, 2009).

 Sports is not all about winning of medals and trophies and amassing of wealth. The main important thing in every sports field is to make sure that all the competitions take place in a very fair way and in a manner which will render the sport enjoyable. There is no doubt that wining is associated with a lot of glory and fame, lucrative income and merchandise marketing, but also the aspect of moral integrity for the sportsmen and sportswomen and the credibility of all the sports that the participants engage in (Badjan, 2009).

Ordinarily, offenders in the sports arena receive harsh penalties from the sports law than the civil offenses. It has very negative and dangerous consequences on all societies. This is because it is a way in which the young people are influenced. Additionally, the penalties are severe because there is a general wrong signal in relation to the importance of sports in the recent world. Additionally, the credibility of the sportsmen and sportswomen is also undermined (Badjan, 2009).
 
Issues in misconduct
Any sport celebrity who is accused of misconduct or any form of cheating is faced with a lot of consequences. To start with, most of the sport celebrities are usually contracted by companies so that they can market their products. In fact, it is a very strong marketing strategy as people will purchase the products if at all they are associated with their favorite sportsmen. This explains the reason why companies like Gillette backed off from having celebrities like Tiger woods immediately he was featured in a scandal. Therefore, the consequences are so severe compared to when the mistakes are performed by any other person (Kanter 2010, par 6).

The sports people are also under law. There are disciplinary rules which they have to follow as long as they are in the field of sports. This differs from country to country, though most of the elements are similar. There are specific sanctions which are adopted in relation to a sportsman or sportswoman. These are adopted so that they can be used to promote and defend the aims of a sports association and federation. All these laws must be observed as they have the public order and mandatory force law (Blanpain 2003, 131).

There is a very strict system of discipline which is made so as to act on the misconduct or cheating behavior which is made in a bid to enact relevant penalties. Most of the penalties are either dismissal or expulsion. The rules are so strict such that a sportsman or a sportswoman who has committed a crime has got boundaries in which he or she can defend him of herself. This explains why the sports people suffer very harsh penalties once they cheat or are found in misconducts. In civil life, the penalties are almost the same. The only major difference is that the sports people end up losing their jobs and get the attention of the media (Blanpain 2003, 131).

Conclusion
From the discussion above, it is clear that the sportsmen and sportswomen as well as their coaches should be very careful in all what they do, because once they are caught up in any unprofessional conducts, they suffer more. This is for the reason that they are exposed to more dangers than those they would have been in if they were not in the sports arena. That is why they always face very severe consequences, most of which even lead to the end of their careers. Sports will continue to be a favorite of many. Therefore, it should always be an area where there is a high level of integrity maintained.