It is hard to be a sports fan in China.

But it can be entertaining for those who are detached but willing to spare some time for the arena.

Once in a while, there is a farce.

The players often follow the same scenarios: players and coaches cry foul to referees accused of being biased; quarrels and scuffles break out.

The latest performance was staged on Thursday in the preliminaries in the wrestling ring of the Tenth National Games in Nanjing.

First a coach broke into the ring to protest, then a different coach beat up a judge amid audience chants of "kill the judge" , and finally, a player ran around the ring crying "black whistle" before sitting in the ring and refusing to leave.

Behind the scenes, media reports said, were under-the-table deals which could involve an Olympic medallist-turned-coach.

In rule-based societies, rules in sports are certainly among the easiest to implement, if not the easiest.

But these rules being blatantly breached has become a common scene in China's sports sector.

In fact, disrespect of basic rules in other sectors of our society is not uncommon at all. To get one more handy example requires just a glimpse into the chaotic situation on Beijing's roads, where not a few pedestrian sand cyclists jump a red light whenever possible. The comic but fierce situation also often triggers quarrels and, in extreme cases, can result in tragedy.

In society, rule-violators also abound. The consequences are often sad.

In the past week, the central government has ordered all local officials with interests in mines to come clean. Their involvement in some men-eating mines is one of the underlying reasons for the illegal operations.

But that government officials should stay away from business that could be in conflict with its responsibility as civil servant has long been considered a ground principle.

We have countless laws, rules and regulations.

But enforcement has proved to be much more difficult than drafting them.

Society is in dire need of fostering people's respect for rules.

It is convenient to blame the masses for poor moral standards but those who enforce the rules, in most cases, governments, hold most of the responsibility.

Just as in the cases of the wrestling match and the mines, if the referees and the officials themselves are found to be rule-breakers and leave with impunity, the very foundation of these rules will collapse.

Then everybody will try to win the favour of the referees or simply become corrupt.

At best, an undesirable scenario.

(China Daily 08/27/2005 page4)