Almost all sports leaders on the world stress in their public statements the importance of Fair Play. However, insufficient actions are taken, they say. At the same time others distinctly suggest that Fair Play does not exist these days. It is a utopia and unnecessary to talk about it.

I myself believe that in the history of humanity there has never been such a necessity to universalise the idea of Fair Play as there is today. Not only in sports, but also in all fields of life.

Was it born together with mankind? Has it always been here? Does it have any relation to the culture of humanity at all? Does everyone understand in the same way, always and everywhere, these two words: fair play?

As we know, since the beginning of the ancient Olympic Games, through the dark Middle Ages, and up to these days sports have played an important role in our societies. Fair play was not always the part of sports from the start.

In ancient times, in the ancient Olympic Games, there were no such things as fairness and honesty, at least not as we understand them today.

Assistance to one or the other by the gods, mockery of losers, breaking rules by using trickery and deception were all taken for granted then. Use of brutality and physical violence was natural in civil life, and in the sports as well.

Later on, in Northern Europe a culture, which valued moral standards higher, developed in the tactics of Vikings, who were the ancestors of knights. And the standards within the warmongering society of the 1200’s were not really that much better either. Tormenting and killing others was a source of great enjoyment. Cruel treatment in no way led to social ostracism. It follows that moral antipathy, feeling of guilt and shame, must have been far less pronounced than they are nowadays.

Humane ideas started to improve with the development of civilization and intelligence. Self-control evolved, which could compensate the compulsion from outside and could moderate brutality.

The cradle of modern sports is England. In the 1700’s a kind of human ideal had developed, which the social elite wanted to achieve as an emblem of being a gentleman. The demand of these norms was shown in the English public schools and education. And the ideal of conscious fair play had appeared here. According to our present knowledge, the expression of fair play was first used by Shakespeare in ”King John” (1597), but it didn’t become widespread until the 1800’s, namely in the atmosphere of civil liberalism.

Pierre de Coubertin, the creator of modern day Olympic Games, regarded the Olympians as modern knights, who protect the weak, fight in an honest and well-meaning way, are unconditionally loyal to the opponent, and observe the unwritten rules as well as the written ones.

The 1900’s did not provide an ideal soil for these notions. Social tendencies influencing modern sports such as the world wars, crises, dictatorships, economic and political interests, chauvinism, nationalism and terrorism pushed the ideals of fair play into the background.

The principle of ”winning at all costs” became dominant and almost a rule. This doctrine led to such distortions in sport as brutalism, aggressiveness, drug use, and racism. As we know today, the sports mirror society. Therefore the estimation and presence of Fair Play as a value changes from time to time, from society to society.

The more civilised a society is, the higher its moral consciousness and sense of responsibility. However we experience in practice more often than not that someone would do anything for success. Success in sports brings social and material honour. This means a great temptation in sport. To some fair play is an unnecessary difficulty on the way to success. Nevertheless, in my opinion, playing fair is more important than a victory.

Jean D’Ormesson, the French academician and philosopher, our dear friend and fellow Committee member expressed a fundamental truth when he said, “Morals are manifested more sincerely while playing. (…) Fair play allows us to declare that sport shall not become a manifestation of brutality. Fair play helps sport to become a constituent of civilization. Sport is not about killing, humiliating and breaking the opponent; it is about playing with the opponent so that he can deploy all his human skills.”

Responsible politicians, researching and influential Educationalists, sociologists, scientists of the XXI century recognize the social development, that sport is not only right for health preservation and to spend useful the free-time, but it also can be used as an instrument to develop and to hold moral values and honest self-conduct.

This has a special meaning if we pay attention to certain researches, which show that by the end of the century seven of ten people will have something in common with sport. Now, this is, in fact, true and it is enough to that, what we should speak about: „ the Fair Play”.

Fair Play gives to sport its real beauty and Fair Play is our common language, it means our holding force, which can bring together the different sports around this idea.