is religious observance and the perception of divine intervention in competitive sport a form of cheating?
• Abstract – 150 words
• Key words – six key words
• Intro – objective for this article is to highlight that Christian sportspeople (both individuals and teams) refer to God as having ‘given them a gift’ to be better athletes or that God was on their side which is why they won. But such claims, ignorant or not or a placebo or nocebo, may in fact be unethical and a form of cheating. Make sure there is a clear reference to the potential unfair advantage religious athletes may have through their beliefs.
• Background – include examples of athletes/teams who claim a connection with God (many outlined in attached articles). Refer principally to Christian athletes but also touch on athletes of other faiths. Refer to a few examples where sports fans thinking their team has God on there side (e.g. one example is that 25% of Americans believing God decides outcome of Super Bowl).
• Literature review – extensive review of attached articles plus additional ones you find to address and link the following: ethics in sport; what constitutes cheating; the impact of the placebo or nocebo effect (to compare to the religious placebo, this would include examples of athletes being given an injection that was a placebo but they believed would make them a better athlete, this gives them an unfair advantage); the many examples of literature on religious observance and the link with sport.
• Findings – point out that the literature provides extensive examples of athletes/teams that claim their success is based on divine intervention.
Talk more generally about society also believing this and how sports fans think there is divine intervention in sport (e.g. 25% of Americans believing God decides outcome of Super Bowl plus a few other examples).
• Discussion – suggest that future research might include specific observation and analysis of individuals or teams who claim to be religious (or behave that way) vs. those who do not. Idea might be to test if those with religious convictions are more successful and if this supports the unfair advantage they have, thus they are cheating.
• Conclusion
• References – 30 or more references in the bibliography (taken from the attached documentation and in APA format). In-text citations throughout the article to support all points and please use EndNote for citations in APA 7th edition.
