Cheat

Where there’s sport, there’s cheating. No sport is immune; athletics, swimming, rugby, American Football, cricket, baseball, badminton, motorsports, tennis and curling. Yes, even that sport on the ice with brooms. Almost as soon as humans started playing sport competitively, they started to cheat. From the fiendishly clever to the outright hare-brained, the borderline to the blatant, Titus O’Reily takes us through the many and varied ways athletes and countries have tried to cheat over the years. As well as sharing an alarming amount of tales involving swapping bodily fluids, Titus takes us through doping, illegal equipment, bribes, playing dirty, faking injuries, wearing disguises, dodgy referees, ball tampering, eye gouging, itching powder, licking an opponent to distract them and sending a dwarf out to bat to shrink the strike zone. Along the way, he asks: what does this say about us, that we cheat with such regularity and creativity? And will technology help stop cheating or will it only make it worse? This is a hilarious trip through the history of cheating in sport and a handy how-to-guide for the professional athlete in your family.

Ideal for readers interested in sport & recreation.