In praise of GAA amateur status - Sam Allardyce scandal

Like art, music, and literature, sport has the ability to inspire, enhance, and in many other ways exalt the lives not just of participants but also those of a more sedentary disposition who enjoy the spectacle of performers exhibiting the best of human physical achievement.

Unfortunately, nowadays, it also has the ability to disgust and repulse those who love sport in all its forms.

First it was cycling, with American Lance Armstrong finally confessing to years of using performance enhancing drugs; this was followed by revelations of doping at the Rio Olympics as well as the tickets controversy involving the Olympic Council of Ireland.