Examination of Witnesses (Questions 380-382)
4 MAY 2004
Ms Sue Campbell CBE, and Mr John Scott
Q380 Chairman: Rosemary, was it you,
or Frank! On the other hand, there is an aspect of going right
back to the original Olympic Games, there is this prominence in
terms of clean sport, keeping your body in good condition, behaving
well. Do you think that it is unfair that a young person trying
to get into the Commonwealth Games, the Olympic Games, whatever,
should have to accept at a very early stage that the way they
behave, both in terms of whether they take drugs to enhance their
performance, or the way they behave in their private lives, is
a responsibility that they have to accept in the modern world?
Ms Campbell: I do not think it
is unfair. I think that is part of the stage that they find themselves
on. Certainly the evidence we would have is that, where those
people take that responsibility and role seriously, they can have
a major impact on young people's lives. I think that is one of
the real arguments for even greater investment from government
into sport and into elite athletes if they can help begin to play
their part in shaping a better society.
Q381 Chairman: It is also important,
is it not, for the sporting authorities to clear away a lot of
the dross and the hypocrisy that can affect sport? This Committee
in the last Parliament played some role in getting rid of the
amateurism in Rugby Union. So there is not only a responsibility
obviously on the generally young people who wish, with all credit
to them, to be active and they hope to be prominent in sport,
but also there is a very strong responsibility on the sporting
authorities?
Ms Campbell: Absolutely. I think
over the last few years everyone has begun to recognise the immense
power of sport to affect other key agendas, and the only way it
can do that is through the people in sport. It really can impact
on education standards, it really can impact on behaviour management,
it can impact on crime, we know it has some of those impacts,
we are now gathering very good evidence to prove that it can have
that impact. So I think all of us in sport, whether we are administrators,
coaches or players, have a massive responsibility to represent
the best of sport and to help play our part in shaping a more
positive future.
Q382 Rosemary McKenna: Can I add to that?
I agree with you whole-heartedly but we should not have just realised
it over the last few years. When you think of the impact that
Brendan Foster had on an entire town, an entire area, an entire
community, who responded to that success and the commitment that
he made, and that is only one example, we probably should have
picked up on this a long time ago.
Ms Campbell: Yes. I think we have
always understood the power of individuals like that to have an
impact on their local communities, or the research that has always
been done where a town wins the FA Cup and sees the productivity
in the town goes up very quickly, equally the productivity goes
down if they lose, but never mind, the reality is that we have
always been aware of that impact. What has become more evident
in the last few years is that Government policy and Government
investment has followed that understanding, and that is what has
been a remarkable shift in the last few years.
Chairman: Thank you. In terms of the
quality of the evidence that we have received, I believe that
this is one of the most valuable inquiries that we have carried
out. It is now up to us as a committee to see whether we are equal
to the quality of the evidence. Thank you very much indeed.
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