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Following an obvious (to all but the referee and line judges) but disallowed goal by Frank Lampard in England's 4-1 loss to Germany in the Football World Cup , FIFA's president Sepp Blatter has now accepted that there may be a place for goal line technology . The argument given by FIFA in the past is that such technology would unduly disrupt the flow of game and possibly prevent the opposition scoring from a counter-attack. However, as was often seen in other sports that are now using technology to determine outcomes, when replays of events show within seconds whether the officials have made the correct decision, it is the refusal of governing bodies to embrace its use that undermine the authority of officials and not the other way around. However, whether FIFA are serious about reconsidering their position that they so definitively took in March, or whether they are merely trying to sooth the sore feelings of those on the receiving end of an incorrect decision is up for quest...

Readers may be interested in the online debate from Oxford University regarding the question of allowing performance enhancing drugs in sport. Professor Julian Savulescu uses the example of the Tour de France to support his proposal for allowing the use of (some) doping methods whereas Dr John William Devine rejects this on the grounds of undermining the integrity and value of sport. It is proving to be an excellent example of philosophical argument in action and on a subject that fires the interest and opinion of many of us in the general population. You can view the whole debate here and are also able to join the debate and provide comments of your own.

Readers of this blog may be interested in three recent posts at my blog at Psychology Today, Ethics for Everyone : Do sports really build character? Sports and Moral Development How can character be built through sports?

Readers of this blog might be interested in the blog Sport and Society , which includes "Commentary about sport from the Center for ETHICS*, University of Idaho, the leading research center in the world in curriculum development and research about moral reasoning and moral development of athletes and coaches." Recent posts include: How do we justify pay for football coaches? Reflections on John Wooden's Coaching Style Would you cheat for $385,000?

In doing some reading in another context, I came across the following minimum criteria for something to be a sport: “An activity is not a sport unless there are challenges to be overcome and a clear set of rules about how to confront these challenges.” -- J P Spiro (2008) Defending the Master Race: Conservation, Eugenics, and the Legacy of Madison This was offered as a way to distinguish a "sportsman" from a "market hunter" in the US in the late 1800s. But it got me to wondering if it has a more general application. Clearly, the two criteria--challenges and clear rules--are not sufficient to define a sport, but are they necessary? I am sure that ground has been broken on the question of what makes a sport a sport, so pointers to that literature would be greatly appreciated.

As reported on Oxford's Practical Ethics : Drugs in Sport debate and special edition Over the next month Oxford Online Debates will be tackling the motion "Performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in sport". We will try to collect together relevant materials and blog posts below in this special edition. Continue reading "Drugs in Sport debate and special edition" » Moderated by Roger Crisp, who in his opening statement writes, "Taking drugs to improve one’s sporting performance seems, on the face of it, a paradigmatic example of a wrong action. It combines two activities usually considered shameful: the use of banned substances, and cheating." "But on closer inspection the issue is more complicated," Crisp continues. "The use of some drugs, such as nicotine or caffeine (both of which might enhance performance in some cases), carries little or no stigma, and the...