Why do we seem to be increasingly living in a world where getting one over on people is not only considered the norm, but actually laudable? When we go shopping, we are bombarded with offers designed to deceive us or at least trick us into thinking we are getting a better deal than in fact we are. There are many other examples of this in today's world, too numerous to dwell on here from bankers who steal from us then expect us to pay their bills to photoshopped images that make us believe that women are actually blemish free and thus more beautiful than they really are. The latest is from a bastion of football sports.
European football's governing body UEFA has sparked outrage after it emerged that they manipulated footage of fans during the Euro 2012 semi-finals.People across the world were touched when cameras zoomed in on a German fan in the crowd crying after Mario Balotelli put Italy two goals ahead in the first half of their match last week.
ESPN commentator Adrian Healey even referred to the woman as he covered the game for American TV, saying it was "too early for tears" since there was the best part of an hour left in which the sparky Germans could fight their way back into the match.There was just one problem: the woman - a fan from Dusseldorf called Andrea - hadn't started crying at all, and was stunned to receive text messages from friends back home asking why she was blubbing with so much football left to play.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/29880900
It turns out that Andrea had actually been overcome by emotion during the singing of the German national anthem before the match. The footage was recorded, then cut into the live feed sent to broadcasters around the world after the Italians went 2-0 up.
It turns out that it was not the only instance of UEFA pulling such a stunt: they also broadcast footage of Germany coach Joachim Loew jokingly pinching a ball from a ball boy during the group stage match against the Netherlands. It turned out that Loew wasn't relaxed and having fun during a key match against arch-rivals, but merely joshing with him during the pre-match warm-up.
So again, I repeat the question: why are we so intent on cheating each other and misleading others in our daily communication? Can it just be about money this manipulation of our thoughts? Or is there something more sinister going on?
Read more: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/uefa-under-fire-faking-crying-fan-footage-110329796.html
