Following his historic Wimbledon win, Britain’s Andy Murray is now being tipped to become sport’s youngest knight.
Cyclist Bradley Wiggins was upgraded to Sir Bradley Wiggins following his historic Tour de France win, the first by a Briton and many say it will be a no-brainer for the Prime Minister to recommend a similar award for Murray and try to win favour with the people.
Sadly, the recognition of sporting achievements in Britain have of late been too linked to Politics and the polls rather than perspective. English sport had undoubtedly been in the doldrums for a very long time, but to give every player in the Rugby World Cup winning side an award was simply preposterous. Some of the players were just starting out on their careers and had done very little.
Such awards should be bestowed at the end of a career, when one can look at the work a player has done away from the court or the pitch to help others achieve the same highs, or worthy causes that benefit society as a whole.
To put Murray’s achievement in perspective Fred Perry who won three consecutive Wimbledon titles in the 1930’s was never bestowed such an honour. Neither was England’s World Cup winning football captain Bobby Moore.
Yet should, and the chances are it is very unlikely, England win the World cup in the very near future, in this current climate all of the players and the coach are likely to be honoured. It is not right.
They are suitably rewarded financially, and are doing their job. Awards such as this should be for services to their sport over an extended period of time where they have helped build on the success they may have achieved to ensure its long term success as a whole. The sport itself must always be more important than the individual.
