GIVE OUR ATHLETES A BREAK

SPORTS stars who have spoken out about their mental health struggles in recent years must be commended for their courage, as most had to go against the norm and show that they are human after all.

When Japanese tennis ace Naomi Osaka decided she would not be participating in the prearranged press conferences during last year’s French Open, many critics felt that she didn’t understand the commitment that comes with being a top-ranked tennis player. She eventually withdrew from the event.

Osaka revealed that she had battled long bouts of depression since her rise to stardom in 2018. The organisers fined her for not taking part in the media sessions.

Some months later, during the Tokyo Olympics, more athletes including Simone Biles spoke out about mental health issues and the expectations placed on them to perform at their best at all times.

This week, Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli said he had struggled with his mental health throughout his career. Recently, Kohli has been plagued by a run of poor form, and has been relieved of his captaincy in all formats since late last year after a dismal showing at the Twenty20 World Cup.

In South Africa, Quinton de Kock of the Proteas has regularly spoken about the need to break away from the sport. Cricket followers who constantly want to have him in the team because of his talent have often grumbled and at times seen him as selfish.

The Beautiful Game has its own victims – young and old – who ended up in the heap of failed stars. Some may not have not known that their challenge was depression brought about by the spotlight and the pressure to perform.

With the Covid-19 era seemingly behind us, there is clearly a big push by sports bodies to stage bigger competitions and innovate in a bid to keep or attract more money into sports. African football is launching a Super League, local rugby teams have joined the United Rugby Championship and they still have the Currie Cup on the go. This will only mean more pressure on the players.

Is it not time that governments and sports federations around the world monitored the negative impact of the scheduling of sports competitions to regulate the industry?