One for the road
Sport and booze have always enjoyed a drunken relationship. Just ask Boony, writes Lisa O'Brien
In nineteenth century England, public houses were not just places to watch sport but places to play it, the range of activities limited only by space and the imaginations of patrons. Even modern-day soccer superpower the Football Association, was formed in a London pub in 1863.
A hundred and fifty years later the connection is stronger than ever in professional sport, with media reports as much about athletes' misbehaviour, Mad Mondays and codes of conduct as they are about player performances and scoreboards.
In Australia, fans have been rocked by high-profile sports stars involved with alcohol and drugs. The situation has got more serious since David Boon infamously drank 52 cans of beer on the flight from Sydney to London ahead of the 1989 Ashes series. Earlier this year, ex-AFL star Wayne Carey was embroiled in controversy surrounding his drug and alcohol use following police incidents in Miami and Melbourne, and last August, Andrew Johns revealed he had used drugs and alcohol throughout his career. In an interview with the Footy Show, he admitted struggling with depression and substance abuse to escape the pressure.
Reports abound of the drinking culture entrenched in our sports codes and the role alcohol plays in team bonding. John Brady, communications director for the NRL, says it's insufficient to look at the concerns surrounding alcohol use as a solely sports-related issue. "Society has a problem with alcohol," says Brady. "And [the NRL] works very hard to do what we can to fix that."
Following high-profile incidents of player misbehaviour during team drinking sessions, the NRL and other codes have instituted strict legislation with strong penalties for players who break them. Brady says the NRL sends an ongoing message that extends to their sponsors. "Bundy Rum is involved with our Monday night football, but the whole message of their campaign was ‘don't make a mug of yourself on alcohol'," he says.
Johanna Adriaanse, co-chair of the International Working Group on Women and Sport says female athletes are much less likely to partake in binge drinking, despite the fact that it's on the rise among young women generally. "They do have a drink after the match, but not the whole team," says Adriaanse. "I haven't seen the pressure that the whole team has to come as there is with men. If some people choose not to come, I don't think that is held against them and the amount of alcohol is almost always less."
According to Adriaanse, there are considerably lower incidences of alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour among sportswomen. "I've never seen a sportswoman who became violent and punched another woman or man in the face, or even used aggressive language [after drinking]," she says.
Professional sport has been targeted by PM Kevin Rudd as a solution to the wider problem of bingeing. Rudd met with the heads of AFL, ARU, Cricket Australia, NRL and Netball Australia to discuss the role of the sporting codes in curbing alcohol abuse.
As part of Rudd's $53 million package, sports stars will appear in anti-binge drinking ads and the government will contribute $5 million to national responsible drinking programs. A further $2 million will be used to set up a Club Champions program. Clubs take their responsibility to players, fans and the community seriously. Peter Peters, spokesperson for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, says their policy on alcohol is "intense". Players must attend seminars on alcohol, are subjected to random breath testing both pre-season and season proper, and face disciplinary action if they break the terms of the policy. "The intention is to reduce alcohol misuse in the club," says Peters. "To set an example for other players and the general community."