Gender relations on moral values associated with soccer players Fair Play

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To comparing the attitudes of male and female athletes towards dilemmas in soccer game situations, taking as reference the values of honesty and justice, from the point of view of fair play.
METHODS: The research subjects were adolescent athletes aged 16 and 17 years old, linked to a soccer club in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This is a comparative research with a qualitative approach. Face-to-face interviews were carried out in which dilemmas were presented in hypothetical situations of soccer games, (1) the athletes’ answers were collected (2) through discourse analysis techniques, dimensions of analysis were defined and (3) based on these dimensions, comparisons between male and female athletes were made.
RESULTS: We did not find significant differences between genders in the athletes’ speeches regarding their attitudes towards dilemmas. The way of facing and experiencing soccer was very similar. Most of the male and female athletes were more inclined not to practice fair play.
CONCLUSION: We can’t deny that there are biological and physiological differences, but there is no difference in the ways of living and facing these “footballs”. There is an urgent need for a more solid work of ethical and moral education, which is not a simple task and requires all those involved in the formation of young athletes. Thus, fair play and sportsmanship are not only the responsibility of the player/athlete, but of all those who are directly or indirectly involved.