Damaging revelations about college athletic programs are nothing new, specifically in countries that

dominantly entertain and hold extravagant sports events such as the US. Recently, however, many of
these revelations have inflamed the debate about whether sports scholarships should be a part of the
college benefits. Allegations of fake courses at the University of North Carolina, abusive coaching at
Rutgers, a multi-million-dollar pyramid scheme at the University of Miami, to name a few, have agitated
the American sports world. And who can forget the 2019 college admission scandal, where the FBI
discovered that 33 parents of high school students conspired with inside connections in the academic
institution to use bribery and other forms of fraud to illegally arrange to have their children admitted to
top colleges and universities. They took advantage of the sports program, making faux photos of the
underserving applicants (their children) participating in practices and forged athletic achievements
documents. These scandals create an unfair playground for student-athletes who put their all into
honing their skills and the academic-focused people whose importance is undermined by the underlying
social conflict between the brains and the brawns. Outside forces are one thing, but what about the
execution of sports scholarships itself? Ralph Nader, an American political activist, author, lecturer,
lawyer, and former perennial candidate for President of the United States, mentioned the elusive
athletic scholarships that many young athletes dream about receiving. Even though chances are slim
because the competition is stiff, many parents relentlessly push their children through middle school
and high school sports programs, truly believing an athletic scholarship is their child's only chance at
college.

"An entire industry has developed in the youth sports arena — club teams, personal trainers, etc. — to
prey on families' dreams of an athletic scholarship. The lure of the elusive athletic scholarship is the
primary — sometimes the only — marketing tool these youth sports entrepreneurs use," Nader claims,
reports the Associated Press. And the situation of sports scholarship nowadays is as valid as Nader said;
the players are too often steered into so-called "mandatory classes" to preserve their eligibility and
leave school without a degree or any prospect of a career in professional sports.

With all things above considered, the abolition of sports scholarship is a demanding and indispensable
call that the educational system all over the world must take. We are here today with a strong desire to
change the status quo of the debated topic and to oppose the idea of maintaining athletic subsidies as
they are doing more harm than good for society.