And the award for worst use of sporting funds goes to . . .

AN athlete wins an Olympic race and, amid much fanfare, is given a gold medal. A team wins a football final and the players troop up the grandstand to a gaggle of dignitaries to receive the cup, medals and handshakes; then it’s back to the field to pose for photographers and accept the acclaim of the fans.

These are real, unalloyed sports awards. The rest, as William Randolph Hearst might have said, is marketing.

Other awards ceremonies, such as the Oscars, for example, or the Sunday Times Top 100, are different. Actors, directors and production people will work hard, often behind the scenes, in making a movie without immediate recognition, so the — admittedly long-winded — Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood is justified. In a similar way, so is rewarding our captains of industry.

The glory of sporting achievement, however, is in the moment of victory. No matter how hard everyone might try, recreating the event weeks, or even months, later is impossible. Not all the black ties, strapless evening gowns or strobe lighting and dramatic music in the world can help to recapture that single moment of victory.

Too often these sports awards occasions are held to placate sponsors (who revel in the TV time) and indulge officialdom as it basks in the reflected glory of the athletes.

This is not to say there is no place for such events. Cricket clubs, especially, have a tradition of end-of-season dinners during which players, sometimes down to the Fifth XI, are honoured and energetic match secretaries are given pats on the back.

On the whole, these events are harmless fun. Where they get out of hand is when the public purse is used.

Such an event is next Sunday’s sports awards at Sun City, arranged by Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula. Not only is this a massive and unnecessary extravagance, it has diverted money that could have been put to better use sending our sports people to compete in actual events, rather than having them provide a glamorous backdrop for what increasingly looks like Mbalula’s personal party.

The minister is spending R21-million from his department’s budget on a shindig that will cost R65-million. The rest of the money will come from sponsors, which might otherwise have been persuaded to invest in the athletes themselves. A tragic example is that one of the sponsors, the National Lottery Board, will contribute R8.5-million for the party at a time when it has cut its funding to some of our leading sports associations. All this so the minister can party.