Traditional idealists have long bemoaned the current state of sports, with intrinsic corruption ruling the roost and commercial reality calling the shots.

Sports as a global genre represents a force essentially associated with clearly defined rules and regulations, set boundaries - a small self-contained and idealized world.

A disruption of the same results in ensuing shock and outrage for the loyal following, which more often than not fizzles out in face of public fervour for more.

Cricket, athletics, cycling, football, and weightlifting – all have succumbed to the tarnishing influence of "cheating" measures.

But at the end of the day - for all those involved - winning is all that counts and the game continues to reside in its moment of happening, with everything else that follows proven redundant.

Drugged infamy; betting bungles

One is reminded of the West Indian stalwart of 1970's, David Murray, who paid big for his drugged mélange and was subsequently banned for life. Legendary English cricketer Ian Botham too was handed a 63-day ban for doping in the mid 1980s.

Aussie spinner par excellence, Shane Warne, faced a stunner of a year-long ban, when he tested positive for a diuretic, just before the start of the 2003 World Cup.

Controversy's first-born Shoaib Akhtar, accompanied by the now infamous Asif, was detected to be under the influence of Nandrolone post their arrival in India for the 2006 Champions Trophy.

Another notable case of illicit drug usage was that of Canadian athlete Ben Johnson's at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Johnson was promptly stripped of his Olympic 100 meters gold medal, as well as the credit for a world-record performance.

The year 2007 saw multiple gold medalist and Olympic champion Marion Jones pleading guilty to drug usage for a considerable time past. She faced the humiliation of her past achievements being declared null and void.

While doping could in some way be ascribed to either the athelete's desire to gain that extra edge along with the sometimes confusing regulations and the activities of the support staff, jiving with bookies is a whole different ball game, where the sportsperson is solely to blame.

One of the biggest such rackets was when Delhi Police let open a can of worms in the summer of 2000, when they intercepted a betting ring that threw up the name of the then South African skipper Hansie Cronje.

A court of inquiry was set up by the South African government and Cronje admitted to playing the kingpin in a major racket and was subsequently banned from all cricket.

Cronje's admission implicated, much to the chagrin of Indian cricket fans, the names of then Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja – subsequently cleared of those charges.

However, cricket is not the only game that remains under the scanner as the 2005 UEFA Cup and Champions League were too in the news for all the wrong reasons, with referee Robert Hoyzer revealing disturbing details.

Besides these, even the Tennis world is now abuzz with rumours of players throwing matches for money.

Woeful fanfare?

However, the real question is whether these sporting demi-gods, who have either been guilty of or partaken in such mischeif, have afforded their devout fans much heartache with their scandalous descent?

Audience reactions to revelation of manipulations within sports can be clubbed into two broad categories. There are those who feel cheated, their trust challenged and basically used.

Then there are others, who simply shrug it off as something that all knew existed, but only became apparent now.  For them, it registers only to the extent of short-lived wonder at their traditional understanding of sporting ethics being challenged, which essentially translates into a stock reaction - pooh-poohing the downfall of the heroes that were.

The enchantment of the game is so compelling for most fans that they willfully strive to forget the 'bungles' and approach every game with renewed vigour, only to be let down again.

It represents a vicious circle, with both parties duly informed and in the know-how of the existent state of things, but nevertheless role-playing in order to stick to a sham-version of the norms governing sports.

Fans suffer through abuse of their trust in order to retain the enjoyment that a sport affords them.

Digging deeper, one realizes that extensive modernization of the governing structures has led to an intrinsic tussle, resulting in bureaucratic corruption. Every major revelation is followed by promises of action that never materialize into concrete measures.

The malaise of commercially viable manipulation has seeped into, rendering the basic foundations of almost every field of sports hollow from within and dangerously amenable to a complete breakdown.

But nevertheless one concludes that pitfalls in the world of sports - though unfortunate - fail to dampen the wondrous drive that brings multitudes of fans into stadiums world over.

And the calling card of nationalistic verve, boasting of its own inimitable appeal and capacity to woo cheering millions, sporting spirit reigns still.