Abstract:

Sportsmanship, a profession in today's world, has its amateurism and professionalism lines intertwined. Sportsmen legally seen as amateurs in many sports fields are known to earn more than the professionals accepted to be in the high earning range. The study investigates the concept of amateurism in sports in the context of the decision taken for wrestlers and athlete whose amateur status was not approved by the Turkish National Olympics Committee since the above mentioned sportsmen had accepted presents in 1948 London Olympics after they earned medals. The study reviewed the news and comments published in newspapers Akşam, Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, Milliyet and Vatan in the period of 1948 London and 1952 Helsinki Olympics. According to the results, papers published that sportsmen were often given warnings about not to damaging the amateurism rule while they were presented with awards. The decision taken by the Turkish National Olympics Committee prior to 1952 Helsinki Olympics were criticized harshly in the news and comments published in those newspapers. The decision taken by the Turkish National Olympics Committee prior to 1952 Helsinki Olympics was discussed considerably during and after the games. It can be argues that this decision has lost its rationale by the changes in the concept of amateurism in Olympics in the 50 years that passed by.

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