Worth an estimated €350 – €450 billion, sports is the undisputed king of entertainment, an ever expanding business untouched by economic crisis. But as the revenue generated increases, so too does the price demanded of high-level athletes. More and more events, matches and competitions to keep the public and their sponsors satisfied, fill the coffers of club owners, and boost profits for television networks.
Eager for achievements, records and rankings, the sports industry has become a well-oiled grinding machine. Countless champions end up physically and psychologically broken by the hellish pace of the sporting calendar, which forces them to keep pushing the natural limits of the human body. With cyclists feeling obliged to dope, hockey players committing suicide and football players lost to dementia, has professional sports gone too far?
