UK £ 8.99
, Canada $18.00
, USA $0.00
, Australia $0.00
UK Publication 3rd April 2008
ISBN 978-184046890-8
A Chinese man watching a football match runs out of a burning building with his TV set in his arms, leaving his wife and child to fend for themselves. A French tennis coach drugs his children's opponents, causing one death. An England supporter, upset at his team's exit from a football tournament, stabs a Russian student for 'sounding German'.
What is it about sport that makes people behave so irrationally?
Joe Humphreys challenges the idea that sport is a positive influence on athletes, spectators and the world as a whole. Tracing the history of organised game-playing, he points out that football alone has more followers today than either Christianity or Islam. But does that make sport a religion, or a dangerous cult?
Drawing on thinkers from Plato to Bill Shankly, Foul Play shows how sport is bad for your health and damaging to your character, as well as being the last refuge of sexism, racism, homophobia and animal cruelty.
Foul Play is for anyone who believes that their head is not just for keepie-uppies.
Joe Humphreys is an Irish journalist and author. Having been a (highly-unsuccessful) racing tipster, he is currently a staff journalist with the Irish Times, writing news, features, and even occasionally sport. Born and raised in Ireland, he holds an MA in Political Philosophy, supports West Ham United, and lives currently in South Africa.
