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A few days ago a number of sources ran an intriguing story regarding a proposed ban on players using mobile phones in dressing rooms in order to prevent match fixing.
Ridiculous right? Correct. It is a bit ridiculous to think that some players are so hell bent on doctoring the outcome of a match that they can’t even wait until they are back in their hotel room to get their next fix or chat to some shady operator about the venture passed.
According to the New Zealand Herald however this is exactly what’s happening in rugby union.
The Herald writes that the International Rugby Board is considering implementing a new policy that bans players from using mobile phones in changing rooms as part of the bodies “anti-corruption measures”.
Such measures however are not new.
In order to stem systemic corruption in cricket the ICC, cricket’s governing body, implemented laws to ban phones in changing rooms in order to inhibit misconduct. It is in recognition of this somewhat extreme stance that the IRB is basing similar action.
The decision to implement such a strategy will be revealed in the next few months according to the Herald.
All of this begs an interesting question. Should players be left to their own devises – or in this instance, devices?
To answer this ‘big picture’ question, let’s have a look at one other example outside of the prevention of max fixing, which is undeniably a beneficial outcome.
While phone bans are pretty much the ultimate show of no faith in the players it might produce an unexpected side effect. And I guarantee this is something you haven’t thought of just yet.
Athletes will be forced – at least for a fleeting second – to get off dating app Tinder.
What happens when you mix sexually virile men and women in peak physical condition with a dating app that hides enough identity for them to feel relatively protected. One word. Mayhem.
All jokes aside Tinder is bigger than you think in the athletic community. If you take the Sochi Olympics as a case-study Tinder grew 400 per cent over the duration of the games and created a whirlwind of sexual tension.
This triggered U.S. Olympic snowboarder Jamie Anderson to reveal that “Tinder in the Olympic village is next level”. While this might be all fun and games a 24 hour pursuit of ‘strangle bed fellows’ is almost certainly counterproductive to performance.
While nothing overly negative occurred at Sochi, if you take the Tinder example to the testosterone fuelled world of North America a different story emerges.
For instance, two players in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) were suspended for 15 games and are undergoing lawsuits accusing the pair of sexual harassment through the digital medium.
Pretty serious stuff that could all have been prevented if athletes were given early 2000’s Nokia 3310 that can make calls… and that’s about it.
Such vulgarity isn’t limited to Tinder though, there is a fair argument one can present for why athletes shouldn’t be allowed texting at all. See Kurtley Beale and Brett Farve if you want your memory jogged.
Now, let’s face it I am 1. Being very facetious and 2. Making a mountain out of a molehill or, if you will, a bushfire out of some tinder but the substantive point remains. Mobile phones and athletes are a dangerous combination.
While the newest regulations are undoubtedly too stringent, if you think about it in another light – at least they aren’t wreaking havoc on the greater population and getting banned from their day job as a result.
This is very good news.
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