Open letter: commotion Sports Gala
Dear,
After all the commotion in recent days about (incorrectly) accusing Sporza of being corrupt and blind to our sport, I have to say the following.
The intentions to portray motocross and the performance of our Belgian pilots in a positive light are admirable and noble. However, I think the expectations cannot be called realistic. Many apparently had not even realized or had not even bothered to find out how the election of Sportsman, -woman, -promising athlete, etc. works, even though this procedure has been used for many years. The long and short list is only determined by those entitled to vote, namely sports journalists from all over the country affiliated with Sportspress.be and former winners of the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year trophies who are no longer active.
Motocross is unfortunately a marginal sport in Belgium. And marginal is not used here as a swear word, but as a term, namely a sport that is not or hardly known to the general public. The most fuss came about after Jago Geerts was included in the longlist for Promise of the Year and won convincingly in the popularity poll on Sporza, partly thanks to great efforts from the motocross community on social media. Credit where credit is due, this deserves kudos. But ask the man in the street who Jago Geerts is, and maybe there is 1% who can answer at most “motorsport”.
Geerts is also unlucky to have had his best season ever in an Olympic year, the largest sporting event in the world after all. In this way, it is a shame, but only logical, that athletes such as Nina Derwael receive more votes from the professional jury. It is therefore almost certain that Greg Van Avermaet and Nafi Thiam will run with the biggest palms, just like they did in August.
That moment you almost fall on your turn 😂🙈 #gymnastics #turnsaremybestfriend #not 📸@ttfotos
A photo posted by Nina Derwael 😜 (@ninaderwael) on
Furthermore, I think it is a shame that I mainly read accusations among the reactions to Geerts' not being included in the shortlist. There will be protests, so to speak, during the gala, with booing, standing at the entrance with the motorcycle, the votes for Sporza were not taken into account, etc. Even swear words were not avoided. In this way, the image that the masses have of motorsport fans in general is unfortunately confirmed, namely marginal (and this time in the negative sense of the word).
How can one expect appreciation for his/her sport when apparently other top athletes are denied sunlight? For many, apparently, their sport is white, and everything else is black. Obviously it doesn't work that way. Motocross is and will always remain a small sport and will never get the attention it deserves. Comparing our sport with the attention paid to football and cycling, probably the most popular sports in the world, is (unfortunately) far from any form of realism.
Sporza has done their best to broadcast the GPs live for years, even after the career of Stefan Everts. Until last season, you could follow every race of the MXGP class via a live stream on their site. Broadcasting rights are expensive, and as long as no Belgian becomes World Champion, this situation will unfortunately not change.
To conclude this letter, I would like to express my great gratitude for all the initiatives that have already been taken - or will still be taken - to put our sport in the spotlight and present it in a positive light.
A long-time motocross fanatic in heart and soul,
Best regards,
Olivier Goetstouwers
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