Sportsmen and their extracurricular activities

by Chris Pita

Top sportsmen don’t seem to have it all. They do have it all.

They earn millions of pounds for playing a game they love in front of legions of adoring fans.

They drive expensive cars, visit trendy nightclubs and their faces are plastered over advertising hoardings as part of lucrative sponsorship deals. No wonder young people look up to them.

But being a role model has responsibilities.

It means that stellar performances on the pitch must be matched by impeccable behaviour beyond the touchline.

Infidelity, drunken or obscene behaviour is going to attract media attention.

Bad behaviour has consequences. Take the case of John Terry.

Last month revelations of the Chelsea and England captain’s affair with the ex-girlfriend of his former team-mate and best friend, Wayne Bridge, have already cost Terry more than a tarnished reputation.

In an effort to cover up the four-month affair, The Mirror reported that he offered his ex-lover, Vanessa Peroncel, £800,000 to prevent her selling her story to a Sunday newspaper.

His own club manager and fans may be standing by him, but England manager, Fabio Capello, has not been so understanding.

While he remains an integral part of Capello’s World Cup bid, Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy – losing the opportunity to potentially lead his country to victory later this year.

Father of the year

For a person who was named ‘father of the year’ in 2009, Terry’s fall from grace has been nothing short of spectacular.

Despite earlier ‘transgressions’ (to borrow a word from Tiger Woods) and previous bad behaviour, Terry had managed to clean up his image, culminating in the prestige of being named Capello’s captain.

As a role model to millions, his marketing value and earning potential would have been astromomcial - but now that is certainly not the case.

The Sun claimed that this incident could cost the Chelsea captain upwards of £20 million.

As a result of losing the England captaincy, he is already being denied his previous £250,000 bonus from England’s team sponsors Nationwide.

The Sun also claims that the likelihood of Terry attracting sponsorship deals like Beckham’s lucrative contracts with Pepsi, Vodafone and Gillette said to be worth in the region of £3-5 million, is now long gone.

Loss of revenue

Not only is his advertising revenue under threat, after such revelations but his relationship with his wife, Toni, must be in serious doubt.

The potential cost of divorce from his wife could make a considerable dent in the £17 million fortune that he has amassed over his career.

Another erring footballer is Terry’s Chelsea and England teammate, Ashley Cole.

Despite being married to a beautiful popstar wife, Cheryl Cole from Girls Aloud, Ashley has a reputation of playing away from home.

Back in January 2008, according to the tabloid press Cole was revealed to have had a fling with 24-year-old hairdresser Aimee Walton. The Mirror’s interview with Walton, hilariously implied that Cole is hardly a Casanova.

“We started having sex then he just rolled over and vomited on the floor all over the cream carpet, it was disgusting."

Despite this, it looked like Cole had managed to salvage his marriage, but two years on and further allegations have emerged over the past weeks of Cole’s infidelity.

This week The Sun led with images of Cole in his underwear. These images were allegedly sent to another of Cole’s liaisons and The Sun continued its assault on him by publicly stating his involvement in affairs with two other women.

Surprisingly the wives of these cheating sportsmen are often prepared to give them a chance to salvage their marriages, although the latest reports suggest the tides are about to turn with The Sun reporting that Cheryl Cole has asked Ashley to move out after the latest spate of rumoured affairs.

Terry’s lack of judgement and questionable moral standards pale into insignificance however when compared with the antics of Tiger Woods.

Although CBS News alleges that Elin Woods is prepared to give Tiger another chance he has already lost a valuable sponsorship contract with Gillette.

His image as the poster boy of US golf with a previously unblemished private life is no longer tenable as his misdemeanour have been ruthlessly exposed to public scrutiny.

Public apology

The furore that is surrounding Tigergate is still attracting international media attention.

As recently as Friday Tiger made a public apology to his wife in a press conference that coincided with a tournament organised by the first sponsor to drop Tiger, Accenture.

The public apology however has drawn criticism for its wooden, insincere tone.

Standing in front of a packed crowd consisting of friends and relatives, Woods predominantly delivered a well-rehearsed presentation of regret and guilt, apologising to anyone and everyone but taking no questions.

The Guardian commented: "As soon as Woods started talking, he looked like an internet video of a kidnapped person who's about to be executed by terrorists.

"Haunted, beseeching, desperate yet impersonal all he needed was some armed men standing behind him in balaclavas."

The spectacle was complete as Woods started hugging people sitting in the front row starting with his mother and then moving on to Amy Reynolds of Nike who cried throughout, Kathy Battaglia of Tiger Woods Enterprises and Rob McNamara PGA Commissioner.

Maybe tellingly so, his wife was not present.

“I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by”, confessed the penitent sportsman.

This frank admission seems to show the frailties of Tiger’s state of mind as well as his attitude to his relationship with wife Elin prior to being exposed.

As well as the emotional ramifications there are severe financial implications for Woods - already the world’s richest sports star.

Several companies including Gatorade, Accenture and Gillette have all terminated their deals with him, and the cost of this is massive.

As these examples have shown the inability to learn from past mistakes of the same nature is particularly surprising.

Ashley Cole and John Terry have both continuously embarrassed their wives showing complete disregard for anyone but themselves and thinking that because of their standing and financial clout they can do whatever they please.

We lesser mortals just cannot comprehend what leads men with such talent, money and fame to jeopardise their reputations as sporting icons for the fleeting pleasures of casual relationships.