Problems within modern sports are prolifrting. Fraud, drug taking and other health damaging consequences of high performance sports have revealed that the idea of sport as a healthy and educational enterprise is nothing but an illusion.

Nevertheless sports attract huge crowds. That the public does not turn its back on modern sports despite the evils involved is something of a mystery which indicates that the lure of sports is much different from what is normally thought.

A discussion of the attraction of sports is imperative for an up-to-date understanding of modern sport. The authors in The Essence of Sport bring a wide range of international perspectives and approaches to this common theme and provide valuable insights into contemporary sport.