Showing posts with label Athletes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Athletes. Show all posts

Thursday, December 17, 2020

The World of Soccer’s Biggest Match Yet, The Duel Against Racism (1980’s - Present)

The game of soccer, or football as almost every country knows it as is truly the worlds game in every way. The game in total is played by over 250 million people in 200 countries around the globe. It is most popular in Europe, central and southern America, and Africa which proves that the game is touched by so many different types in groups of people with so many different ethnic backgrounds. The world of soccer has two major governing bodies, with the first being FIFA which stands for the Federation of international football Association. This is the governing body that rules over world soccer, as they have control over all the smaller governing bodies that are spread across the world. Anything that has to do with international soccer in any way is completely under FIFA’s control one hundred percent. The second governing body and most definitely the biggest is UEFA. This stands for the Union of European football. This is the most important of all the world's sub unions due to the fact that Europe is where soccer is most densely popular. For an unthinkable amount of time, racism has always been the biggest overall issue there is in the sport (European Football). 

        Due to the fact that there are so many different ethnicities and take part in the game of soccer, outside factors in interferences including race, religion, and ethnicity begin to play a massive role in how many of these teams and their fans view each other. Racism became extremely prevalent in the game of soccer around the mid-1980s, and it has only risen from then. The issue has become so massive that it almost seems as though nobody even knows how to approach it. Most recently over the past two years it has been all that has been talked about due to the fact that the racial cases have risen so highly over the past 2 to 3 years (Ramsay). Along with this many players, fans, officials, and soccer experts feel as though these huge governing bodies are not doing enough to protect against the obvious racism issue which has been going on for sometime.   Since racism began to run right in the mid to early 1980s, UEFA in many of the governing bodies around the world have made some steps to take on the fight against racism. But many and most people whether they are players, fans, officials, or people that are just around the game feel as though the steps are nowhere near to the level of intensity that they should be when talking about the serious racism issue the game of soccer has. This is where the true controversy begins to arise. The fact that almost all soccer affiliates no matter where they stand feel as though these large governing bodies like UEFA do basically absolutely nothing in the fight to prevent and silence racism.

     Within this controversy, ethical theories would analyze UEFA‘s actions to see if they are truly doing enough to stand up and protect not only the game, but the players themselves. For the individualist point of you, they theorize that the leader or managers only ethical responsibility is to increase the wealth of  the owners while still complying under the law. In this case an individualist would say that UEFA is doing nothing wrong and that they are taking the correct measures to ensure their true responsibility. In this case the true responsibility is to increase the wealth at all cost while still abiding by the laws, and they are doing so due to the fact that they are taking some measures to ensure they try to put a stop to racism as a whole throughout the game. The fact that soccer and especially European soccer is by far the most profitable sport in the world which really helps this individualist point of you for this argument due to the fact that so many of these teams are beyond wealthy and are only continuing up which is the main goal of individualism. The main argument from the opposite point of you is the fact that even though many of these major governing bodies like UEFA to take some precautionary measures to stop racism, it is nowhere near close to what it should be because the overall health and safety of the players, who are the ones responsible for truly bringing all the money should be paramount.    

From the utilitarian standpoint, they ethically require that people maximize happiness for the most people they can. From this point of you, they would view UEFA‘s behavior as Beyond unethical due to the fact that their actions have caused countless amounts of racial issues that have caused harm, on safety, and serious distress to many of their players, fans, and the rest of their board. This especially applies to the players who have won through more racial abuse the many could imagine. According to the Kantianism view, which judges actions by the individual decisions people make and the motives that are behind them. In this situation, kantianism would state that UEFA is not and has not been acting ethically over the many years of these racial controversies. It would be said that UEFA is using their players, staff, officials, and the fans as a mere means to get their work done and to make the maximum profit they possibly can.  In doing so they are not protecting all of their employees, fans, and players who have experienced many horrific racial incidents throughout the years. The last of the four theories is the virtue theory, which emphasizes the four main virtues which include courage, honesty, temperance, and justice. In this case UEFA’s actions would be deemed ethical on many accounts due to self interest, greed, inhumanity. Overall changes need to be made within the system in order to once again keep faculty,fan, and player safety as paramount while still prioritizing the game of soccer.


The Company Background

UEFA or the union of European football was created on the 15th of  June 1954. This Is one of the six continental considerations of the world football governing body and by foreign the largest and most prized of the six. This association is responsible for all of European football including running nation and club competitions like the UEFA champions league and the UEFA nations league which tag please each and every year. The current president is Aleksander Ceferin Who was a former football Association president of Slovenia and was elected to be UEFA ‘s seventh president in its history in 2016. In today’s world UEFA is by far one of the most well-known associations in all of world sports and has competitions like the way for champions league or some of the largest grossing competitions in games in the history of worldwide sports. UEFA headquarters resign in Basel Switzerland and play a huge role in the association as a whole is each and every year that is where elections take place. Some of the largest and most well-known countries included and UEFA‘s union include European powerhouses like England, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Russia (Chaplin). 

         These are some of the most successful soccer nations in the world and this is what makes UEFA so much bigger than any of the other soccer associations throughout the world is due to the fact that they house most of all of the best teams around the world as 12 out of the 21 World Cup that have been played have one by just European teams alone.Overall the impact and role UEFA plays in day to day soccer around the globe is massive, especially in Europe where they hold most of their control. The association makes all of the overall decisions that have to do with any type of soccer professionally that is being played with any European nation. They decide the rules, regulations, and laws of the game and have the biggest impact of all on the game of soccer (McCauley). 

Case Controversy 

UEFA as an association has been responsible for the immense wave of success in the popularity that soccer has taken all over the continent of Europe. From their slow rise when they were first formed in the 1950s, to today’s day and age where they are synonymously known for some of the most popular and well-known competitions in the whole world wide game of soccer. Due to the fact that UEFA is considered the government administrative body of European football, they are responsible for not only the integrity of the game and the way displayed, but also the integrity of the teams, staff, and players themselves. Throughout the long and commemorated history of European soccer, there has been one disease that has plagued the game worse than any other, and it is racism. Since the mid to late 1980s, racism has been an ongoing issue that has caused unrest within the sport unlike any other. Hundreds and hundreds of issues have arised with claims from all different types of people throughout the sport. Staff members, fans, and most of all players have been racially abused throughout the years and it seems that no real steps have been taken to truly hold the horrible disease that is racism (Denne). 

       Throughout the countless years in the history of soccer, hundreds of racist incidents have been reported whether it is from fans, staff members, or players themselves this has been an issue for years upon years. As the many incidents continue to pile up over the years, many people have begun to question UEFA on their actions and the way they have responded. After many of these horrible incidents have continued to occur again and again, fans, enthusiasts, and the players themselves have begun to take a stand against UEFA. They feel and believe as though UEFA as the governing body of soccer they are not taking the steps that they should be taking in order to protect their players correctly. 

Over the years UEFA has made some regulations and laws due to the problem of racism, with these adjustments have not come with any change as people feel they were not even close to a stern as they should’ve been. Many players have voiced their opinion on the fact that UEFA has not done anything for the fight against racism since the late 1990s. They are referencing the fact that in 1999 all of the European countries were skiing together as one in the fight against racism where the FARE Network was created. FARE Stands for football against racism in Europe and this organization was created due to the fact then in the late 1990s racism was running riot all across Europe and on a weekly basis there were a multitude of widespread cases involving racism. Something needed to be done and for the first time in a long time UEFA finally stepped up to the plate and created this organization which put in place a set of rules that would no longer allow these cases of racism to be swept under the carpet no longer. FARE is even still around today and it ask as a resistant organization for those who challenge racism and discrimination throughout Europe in the game of soccer. They work together with national associations, clubs, and players unions to combat racism and any related forms of discrimination all across Europe (Wachter). This is said to be the last stern action that UEFA has taken against racism and discrimination in basically 20 years. Since then the fight has only got tougher, as racism has reached its peak most recently.

        In the most recent 2019 2020 season, there were more than 150 football related incidents that were reported to the police as racist, “ a rise of more than 50% on the year before in more than double the numbers from three seasons ago” (guardian). Racism is truly beginning to run wild again throughout Europe, with the highest incline coming from the 2017 2018 season to the 2018 2019 season when numbers rose from 98 to 152 reported cases. With racism rising so quickly, many of the players have begun to voice their opinions on the fact that UEFA has not done nearly enough to protect their players and prevent these horrific actions from occurring. Just this past year, some of the worst racism abuse related incidents occurred in a very long time. Some examples of this was one Brazilian player Malcom signed for Zenit St Petersburg, his first professional division one team which was a massive accomplishment. This team is located in Russia, and has had multiple racial problems in the past. In this situation, Malcom was on the bench for his first game and as the game began, fans displayed a massive banner stating that black players were not ever welcome at the club. This all relates and references a manifesto that was written and created by extreme supporters of the club that discourage the club from having any black players whatsoever (Davies). Racism is truly running through the veins of the fans of these teams, and the players are suffering tremendously. 

Also maybe two of the worst racial abuse situations saw this past season occurred in September when inter-Milan player Romelu Lukaku scored a goal and then was taunted and racially abused by the opposing Italian fans by doing monkey chance and scratching their armpits towards him as he celebrated. The other occurred in October during the year of 2020 qualifiers when England played Bulgaria. The match had to be halted twice in the first half alone, which is a new rule that was applied by UEFA which allowed the referee to start the match in any of these situations. People thought this law was a great step but still not enough in the fight against racism. During the situation, England had scored against Bulgaria and it was the African-American man Rahim Sterling who scored the goal. Bulgarian fans in the stadium begin to make Nazi salute and monkey noises at the player and this resulted in the hault of play (Blum). 

Despicable actions like these have led to the problem that we have today and soccer all around the globe. Racism is and will always be a constant issue until real forceful steps are taken to prohibit racism at the stem of  the route. All of these examples with actions of racism have not been taken lightly by almost all soccer enthusiasts and players around the globe, especially in Europe which is the main case that we are looking at. UEFA has been asked again and again to really step up their actions against a fight of racism, and each and every time the fans and players feel as though they have failed again. It is UEFA’s duty to keep not only the integrity of the game together, but also to keep the safety of the players and fans deemed as what is most important. For almost over 40 years, the soccer world has felt let down on the fight against racism. Many of your wife’s responses to these claims is that they do in fact do what they can at the very highest level in order to prevent any racist action of any kind. In the past, where UEFA has stepped up, according to them, is with their whole entire say no to racism advert. This is UEFA‘s main claim to the fight against racism as it has in fact put tons  of the memorabilia and signs around the stadiums when their games take place. Since this came about, there are some that feel as though even though this is a good effort at a strong campaign, a lot of times it is used against The purpose as in some occasions fans I have completely disrespected the advertisement and banner as a whole. Many soccer enthusiasts around the world are beginning to believe and feel as if UEFA almost takes this as a joke. One of the primary reasons that people are beginning to feel like that is due to some of the recent actions that UEFA has taken (Blum). 

In the Italian soccer league, the Seria A, where a good chunk of these racial issues occur on a year to your basis, A anti-racism advertisement was released for the new season. In this advertisement, three chimpanzees or monkeys were displayed and on their faces were different colored paints of different teams throughout the leagues. The images were said to, “ spread the values of integration, multiculturalism, and brotherhood”( gaurdian). FARE, the anti-discrimination group that plays a huge role in the game of soccer tweeted, “ once again Italian football leaves the world speechless. And a country in which the authorities failed to deal with racism week after week, the Seria A have launched a campaign that looks like a sick joke”. Quickly after the advertisement was released, players and soccer supporters all around the world voiced their opinion on just how horrible it truly looked. Overall UEFA has only employed small steps in the fight against racism, including things like being able to hault the match, or putting up anti-racist advert throughout many other games, but the problem of racism has become beyond serious in the sport and much stricter measures need to be taken in order to ensure the safety of the fans and players (McVeigh) . 



Stakeholders


The stakeholders included in UEFA, The union of European football associations, includes all of the 55 nations that are in cooperation with association association. If the nation is in cooperation with UEFA, then the nation itself is also part of the stakeholders, along with all of the leagues within the country that compete in any UEFA competition. An example of this could be in the English Premier league and England, since all England teams participate in many of your waivers competitions throughout Europe, all of their teams within their major five leagues have a part of the stakeholdership of UEFA itself. An example of a team within the Premier league would be Liverpool who just won the UEFA champions league last season. Along with this, since all teams have a share of the stakeholders, so as do The players themselves. This allows everyone from the bottom to the top to have a small say in the decision making process of European football, even though with the actions that UEFA takes it feels as though nobody else’s opinion besides the people at the top matter. The relationship between UEFA and all of its leagues, clubs, and players is done by memorandums of understanding that are agreed-upon with European European professional football league, European club association, and FIFPRO Division Europe (UEFA). 


Individualism

From the individualist perspective, it is said that the leader or managers' only ethical responsibility is to increase the wealth of the owners while still complying under the law. From the information that we have gained based on individualist point of you, individualist would say that the actions of UEFA have not been unethical due to the fact they have a bided by the laws while still increasing the world of the game of soccer as a whole as it is the most prosperous sport in the world. There are two ways to view individualism, the first is Milton Friedman’s View which states that the only goal of business is to profit within the constraints of the law. This means that a business should do anything and everything I possibly could to make any profit no matter the impact on others as long as it is within the guidelines of the law. The second way of viewing individualism comes by a man named Tibor Machan, Who came up with his own idea of individualism called classical individualism. It states,” according to Machan The only direct goal of business is to profit, and the primary obligation of the business person is to maximize the profit ( Salazar). With these two different views of individualism in mind, overall individualists would say that UEFA as a whole followed these values because they’re number one primary goal was to profit off the game of soccer and they continue to do that each and every year no matter the issues or problems surrounding the game. The tough part of this argument it’s coming from the law side and if UEFA was truly protecting their players under the laws and values that they have stated. UEFA has taken some steps throughout the years to halt racism as much as they possibly can, but this so-called maximum effort that they put in is felt by many fans and players as though it is much lower than it should be. As the statistics show, from the 2014 2015 seasons to the 2018 2019 season the overall revenue of UEFA have continued to steadily rise. The last reported revenue the UEFA has released was during the 2018 2019 season where they marked that A massive revenue of €2.8 billion. 

       As we continue to analyze the individualists point of you for this controversy, The toughest part will continually be if UEFA truly does do enough to protect its players. Throughout the years many efforts from UEFA in the fight against racism have been seen by both players and fans. The real question is, are these efforts enough when racism is by far the largest issue in the world of soccer. As hundreds and hundreds of racial incidents continue to be reported each and every year, the fans and players alike feel as though you were here for his efforts are nowhere near the level they should be due to the true concern of the issue. Racism has been running wild throughout the sport for almost 40 years and it seems as though UEFA always takes the bare minimum steps they have to in order to show that they are still abiding by what they say. People and players want more from UEFA, more laws, more punishment, and more stricter rules. From an overall point of view, the fact that UEFA still makes some effort to fight racism within the sport shows that they are still taking action to protect their players now even if it’s not enough for the necessary measures that are occurring, they’re still abiding by what they have said about protecting the players. An example of a change that UEFA has made most recently is that matches are now allowed to be completely stopped due to any racial abuse or interference within the game (UEFA). Overall under the individualist view, the players and fans are being protected, while at the same time UEFA is still maximizing their profit while abiding by all the laws necessary.


Kantianism

Kantianism is an ethical theory that was created by Immanuel Kant and it has four basic principles. These for basic principles or to act rationally, help others make rational decisions, respect other people, and be driven by Goodwill and trying to do the right thing. Kantianism primarily focuses on rationality and goodwill and doing what is correct for the good of humankind. He states that it is completely wrong to manipulate and exploit people for your own advantage and states that everything should be done under the Goodwill of the people. Within this theory there is a categorical imperative, which is basically a test that indicates whether in action is impermissible or permissible. Within the categorical imperative, is the formula of humanity which strongly states that you should never use people as a means to get what you want because of the fact that you were explaining them for the better good of yourself ( Salazar). 

Based on The information that has been collected about Kantianism and the thought process behind a theory, Kantianists would state that UEFA is and has not been acting ethically towards the fans and players of the game of soccer. Kantianism truly looks at evaluating and assessing the actions of individuals and their decisions based on their overall motives and how they treat people. In this controversy and situation, UEFA is using all of their staff, officials,fans, and players to their own benefit in order to maximize the profit of the game without the correct amount of care and protection the fans and players truly deserve. In doing so this comes to terms with the fact that it does not seem or feel like what matters most to UEFA the safety of its fans, staff, and players due to the fact that they have been dealing with racial issues throughout the sport for almost 40 years and throughout all this time UEFA and many of the major soccer governing board have only made minimal small steps to prevent racism. The fans, staff, and players are the true reason for soccer bringing in all of the revenue that he does each and every day. Without the players there would be no game, there would be no stadium, and the fans would not exist because the team would not exist. So what should be most to UEFA is the players who make the game happen each and every day, and the fans who show up and give them the massive profit that they make every year. In this situation UEFA is using the fans and the players as a means in order to gain the maximum profit they possibly can. For UEFA to straighten this out, massive steps need to be taken to show the players and the fans that they change is coming, with new laws, regulations, and rules being applied to the sport.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism It’s basically explained as maximizing happiness for yourself and others. The goal is to maximize happiness for everyone involved while minimizing unhappiness for everyone. It is very simple into the point that happiness is the key to everything. According to DesJardines,” utilitarianism tells us that we can determine the ethical significance of any action by looking to the consequences of the act”(DesJardins). This basically says that any action can be ultimately viewed as good or bad by looking at the consequences that arise from the action itself. In this situation there are two actions. The first action is the racial abuse in incidence they continue to occur each and every year throughout soccer. The second action, Or so-called action is done by UEFA. These are the small changes in the rules, regulations, and laws that they have made over the years. It sure seems as though what they have done has not been nearly enough to stop the disease that is racism. From a utilitarian standpoint these actions and behavior is extremely  unethical in multitude of ways due to the immense amount of harm in pain that has been caused on the players due to all the racial issues within the sport. So many players and athletes throughout the years I’ve been racially abused and It continues into today’s game has some of the most famous players in the world like Neymar, Romalu Lukaku, Raheem Sterling, Trent Alexander Arnold and many more I’ve been racially abused just this year. Along with the players, there are also a multitude of cases that involve staff members and especially fan altercations resulting from racism. Overall UEFA is not doing enough to create a safe and equal environment for all during the time of soccer. 

Virtue Theory

Virtue theory concentrates on the rationality of people in the choices they make in their lives. Vegetarian was created by Aristotle. There are four main parts to your true theory that include temperance, honesty, justice, and courage. Is for me and virtues will help in deciding someone’s rational behavior. According to Aristotle, characteristics of people are differentiated based on the rationality of the person.  Someone who is ethical within the virtue theory,” act so as to embody a variety of virtues or good character traits and so as to avoid vicious or bad character traits” ( Salazar 23). According to Aristotle‘s studies, it is key to know someone’s purpose and potential in order to evaluate if they can possibly reach their highest purpose or potential. 

According to virtue theory, these four main virtues are what is key and if we are looking at UEFA as a whole, they have absolutely no courage as they have still not set up to the plate for the fight against racism even after almost 40 years of this being a constant serious issue. This is a blatant lack of courage due to the fact that they do not want to step up and create change for a better environment due to the fact that they are already happy with the immense results that I get from the game on a year to year basis. They are also being completely dishonest as they make the claim that they are against racism every single year with small adverts but they do not make a true real effort to the cause. Last but not least is the idea of justice which Is the worst of the four in this case with UEFA. These players, fans, and staff deserve justice for what they have been put through and yet UEFA’s punishment for these horrible racial actions are nowhere close to what they should be. 



Action Plan

In today’s day and age, UEFA is facing the daily problem that has taken a stranglehold of the game of soccer. This is racism, and it has been running riot throughout the game of soccer for almost 40 years. As the multitude of racist cases continue to stack up with the game, UEFA has not done nearly enough to take on the fight against racism. Over the years, UEFA has taken some steps in order to show that they are against racism, but the lack of effort and true feeling of care it’s just not there. Fans and players alike feel that UEFA it’s set in their ways, and have not made any real changes to stop the disease that is racism. When UEFA continues to do very small things like advertisements and banners that show their fight against racism, it feels as though to the fans in the players they are diminishing the actual importance of just how bad racism is throughout the sport. Much more severe and crucial steps need to be taken in order to finally hault racism from completely taking over the game. According to UEFA, their “core mission is to promote, protect and develop European football at every level of the game, to promote the principles of unity in solidarity, and to deal with all questions relating to European football”. This is the mission statement that is provided by UEFA on their true thought about the game of soccer. One crucial part of the statement that sticks out is what was said about promoting the principles of unity in solidarity, and in the hundreds of racial abuse cases that have been seen throughout this for over the years, it sure does not seem like UEFA is protecting in abiding by the strict set of core values. 

      With UEFA‘s original mission statement and core values in mind, something needs to change. The mission statement and core values themselves I personally feel are extremely well written and they display the correct view and position of the sport. According to the mission statement they are trying to protect all of their players and fans while bringing them together despite their differences for the love of the game. Sadly The actions of UEFA over the years I’ve come to show that this is not as important to them as it should be. I believe that UEFA needs a completely fresh new start on the whole entire situation. I would personally recommend that UEFA change their mission statement in order to show that change is  coming. I believe that their original statement is actually very well worded and displays the value of the sports and what they believe in very strongly, but with the past lack of effort that was shown by UEFA, a change in wording to show that changes are being made I believe would be a smart decision on the part of UEFA. Personally a rewording to something along the lines of,” UEFA strongly believes in their core values and their overall mission to promote , protect and develop all of European football equally at every level of the game. This includes equal and fair standings for all clubs, leagues, players, and fans who are part of the UEFA family. We promote the principles of unity in solidarity where no other is held in any other higher regard or standing, and we promote the true values of  a safe, equal, fair functioning league of European soccer”. These small changes in the mission statement with adjustments including words like equal and fair well allow people to see that UEFA is taking a turn in a new direction where they will put maximum effort and care into providing a safe equal non-discriminatory game for all who play. 

      According to UEFA, there are eleven key values that UEFA holds highest for European football. These values included football first, pyramid structure and subsidiarity, Unity and leadership, good governance in autonomy, grassroots football in solidarity, youth protection in education, sporting integrity and bedding, financial fair play and regulation of competition, national teams and clubs, respect, and European sports model and specification of sport. All 11 of these key values have descriptions explaining UEFA‘s main thought process throughout these values. Relating to this case, some of the most important values that are listed include the one about unity and leadership and respect which or two of the most important values of the list. Throw all these cases of racism and racial abuse that have been reported that UEFA has put their own fans and players through does not show any acknowledgment of them following these important values that they have listed.

 UEFA need to completely restart over relisting their values once again while making it clear and evident that solving the racism issue is their main concern. In my action plan, more severe punishments and steps will be taken in order to ensure that racism is completely wiped out from the sport. Racism within soccer, is an extremely broad Action as it occurs in many different instances and places. The punishment will be severe due to the fact that racism cannot be put up with in any form no longer in the sport of soccer. For the players and staff, if any racist comments are made online through the form of blogs or social media, severe suspensions and fines depending on how severe and the amount of past occurrences you have. For example, with these players making millions of dollars, a first offense would lead to a $500,000 fine, and a suspension of the next three games that you participate in. For in-game punishment, there will be new stadium regulations and laws posted all around the stadiums of Europe that states that any and all racist activity of any kind Will result and a multipletude of punishment. These will include the game being completely shut down on the spot by the officials, the protagonist fans and team will be fined, penalized, and suspended depending on how severe the occurrence of the case is. Punishing both the fans and the team then forces the team itself to crack down on their own fence due to the fact that the team will be losing revenue and taking losses in games that should have never occurred due to their horrible actions of racism. Even though UEFA will begin to crack down harder on both fans and teams due to the amount of racial incident that have been occurring, the profits will still be maximized and stay the same due to the fact that soccer is the most popular sport in the world any amount of following that most of these European teams have is so high thank your fans and games will always be attended and sold out the matter the rules and regulations. These fans have an extreme love for the game and nothing is going to stop that even if the regulations and rules become much stricter over time. Overall a serious change needs to be made in order to ensure the integrity and safety of all involved in the game.




References


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Monday, November 30, 2020

Trifecta Nutrition: CrossFit Games Food Scandal (2017-2020)

 

Abstract

Trifecta Nutrition is an organic meal delivery service that offers classic, keto, paleo, vegetarian, and vegan plans. Trifecta states, on their website, that their meals are “Organic, premium, pre-made meals”. Their website also claims, “Every meal is made from scratch, just like you would prepare in your own home, only in much larger volume by professional chefs. Our amazing team of chefs use all organic ingredients, grass-fed meat and wild-caught seafood”. However, at the Crossfit Games that ran from August 3rd, 2017 to August 6th, 2017, Trifecta was found to have been using food from other restaurants such as IHOP, a local barbeque shack, and a Mexican restaurant, and others. This incident contradicts their previous statement about using all organic ingredients such as grass-fed meat and wild-caught seafood, and another statement about every meal being made from scratch. CrossFit is currently investigating allegations also about the 2018 games with Trifecta’s actions. Trifecta is chosen by many customers because of their fresh products that cater to different dietary preferences of customers. These allegations that the company is facing is not good for their publicity or consistent business because it shows that they cannot be trusted to supply the quality of food promised, or even their own products. This case will be looked at through the four different ethical lenses, Individualism, Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Virtue Theory. Considering a utilitarian argument, more harm was done in this Trifecta scandal than bringing happiness. In fact, there is no happiness to be known of in this case, not from Trifecta employees, customers, athletes at the Crossfit games, alternative food sources, or Crossfit Games employees. Thinking of individualism, the Trifecta case was unethical because the company had passed alternative food sources off as their own. A kantian argument can be made that the Trifecta employees were not honest to the Crossfit Games staff, the athletes, or anyone in this scandal. And finally, a virtue theory is that this case was unethical because Trifecta did not meet any of the four characteristics of the virtue theory, which are courage, honesty, temperance, or justice.

 

Case Controversy:

In 2018, Trifecta Nutrition was involved in a food scandal involving the Reebok Crossfit Games, and some third party restaurants and food chains, such as IHOP, McDonald's, and a Mexican food restaurant. Trifecta is the main food supplier for the Crossfit Games, providing food for athletes, staff, and and consumers at the event. Trifecta promises fresh, healthy, and dietary specific meals for their customers. For the Crossfit Games, Trifecta had gone to third party food suppliers, mentioned above, and used their products to pass off as their own during the event. Two former Trifecta employees came forward to spread this news, and were later relieved of their roles in the company. Trifecta Nutrition was founded in 2015 by Greg Connolly, who is also the present-day CEO of the company. In an article written on July 25, 2018 by hugheyphillipsllp.com, the text reads, “Trifecta Nutrition, which won a high-profile competition for local startup businesses and struck partnerships with national sports organizations, is accused in a lawsuit of repackaging processed foods from chain and fast-food restaurants and passing it off as high-quality organic meals suitable for top-level athletes in training” [1]. This quote shows that before the incidents were found from the CrossFit Games, Trifecta was proved to be a big name in meal delivery, winning multiple competitions for startup businesses and collecting partnerships with well-known sport organizations. In another article, Morningchalkup, discusses how Trifecta sourced food from other businesses for events. A quote that shows this from the mentioned article is, “Trifecta also provides all the food for staff at Regionals, the Games, and to CrossFit HQ for those who wish to purchase it. The lawsuit alleges that Trifecta sourced food for the 2017 CrossFit Games from other restaurants — “IHOP, a local BBQ shack, and a Mexican restaurant, among others, as well as sourcing McDonalds hamburger buns” — and passed it off as their own” [2]. This lawsuit was filed by two former Trifecta employees. After the lawsuit was filed by the two Trifecta employees, they were fired a week later. Another quote that adds to the same case is also written by Morningchalkup. The two employees that filed the lawsuit were mentioned in the quote, “Jodi Charter and Scott Cooper, who were both fired on August 14, 2017, just a week after the 2017 CrossFit Games. Scott was hired July 1, 2016 and was formerly the marketing manager. He also holds a minority ownership in Trifecta (50,000 shares). Jodi was hired in September 2017, as a “Social Media & Marketing Intern” then promoted to full-time around May 2017” [5]. Also, according to Morningchalkup in the same article, in the next paragraph, “According to the lawsuit, both employees had received promotions days prior to being fired. Both former employees are seeking monetary damages in excess of $80,000 each” [6]. Jodi Charter and Scott Cooper, the two ex-Trifecta employees, did the ethical action by speaking up about Trifecta’s actions. Another paragraph from Morningchalkup says, “Morning Chalk Up also spoke with Dan Schneiderman, partner at Witan Law Group, the legal team representing Trifecta on this matter. He added, ‘This is an honest, hardworking company that's made its way from a concept to a start up to a successful company. We believe that the accusation and allegations in the complaint are ultimately trying to form an unfounded narrative to say that a certain culture exists at Trifecta that quite frankly does not exist in that manner. We believe that the allegations are unsubstantiated and are founded mostly out of retribution from two disgruntled employees’” [5]. The previous paragraph also stated, “‘Trifecta strongly opposes the allegations and claims present in the underlying lawsuit,’ Trifecta said in a statement. ‘While we cannot discuss the details of pending litigation nor provide specifics regarding the alleged claims at this time, we look forward to correcting the record regarding the salacious and misguided claims brought by these two disgruntled fired employees’” [4]. Both of these quotes from Morningchalkup state that Trifecta has denied these claims made by former employees, Jodi Charter and Scott Cooper, and preach their innocence on the incident involving CrossFit Games. The lawsuit against Trifecta was 141 pages long, from source Morningchalkup, and in the coming sentences, quotes and photos will be shown from this lawsuit. “‘The food was supposed to be Defendant Trifecta food, which is advertised as “90% lean or greater, and Organic, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Dairy-Free and Non-GMO,” but instead was McDonalds hamburger buns, IHOP pancakes, meat and egg products, pork and other meat products from local BBQ shack, etc. Not only were those food products not Defendant Trifecta’s, none of them are or were “90% lean or greater, and Organic, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Dairy-Free and Non-GMO’” [8]. Below I will include a photo incorporated into the lawsuit used as evidence against 


Trifecta.  




Individualism Argument:

An individualistic theory posses primary values of the business, or those involved, profiting. Now considering Trifecta Nutrition, the Trifecta case was not ethical to an individualistic argument because the company had passed alternative food sources off as their own, therefore not profiting. An excerpt from the lawsuit against Trifecta, displayed on Morningchalkup, reads, ““Another specific example involves eggs served to CrossFit competitors and attendees. Eggology is or was the sponsored egg product and provider for CrossFit, and Defendant Trifecta was supposed to prepare and serve Eggology eggs for breakfast each day. Defendant Liz Connolly first told Plaintiffs and others that IHOP refused to cook the eggs at their facility because it was against IHOP’s corporate policies and procedures. Shockingly, Defendant Liz Connolly’s solution, as she explained to Plaintiffs and others, was to instruct IHOP to literally throw out the thousands of cartons of Eggology eggs that Defendants sent to IHOP and have IHOP prepare and serve whatever eggs they desired. When Plaintiffs and others communicated to Defendant Liz Connolly their disappointment and disagreement with her approach, Defendant Liz Connolly changed her story and represented that IHOP suddenly changed its corporate policies and procedures and in fact agreed to prepare and serve the Eggology eggs” [9]. Another argument to consider to viewing Trifecta's case from an individualistic perspective, is that neither the athletes, nor anyone else involved in the food scandal have profited from this incident.

 

Utilitarian Argument:

A utilitarianism argument is happiness for all. Considering a utilitarian argument in the Trifecta food scandal, more harm was done in this Trifecta scandal than happiness brought. In fact, there is no happiness to be known of in this case, not from Trifecta employees, customers, athletes at the CrossFit games, alternative food sources, or CrossFit Games employees. Looking back on the comments made about Jodi Charter and Scott Cooper, these two employees were treated very unfairly. Also considering the dietary plans that CrossFit athletes are on, they have chosen specific meals from Trifecta with trust that they contain the exact nutritional facts to maximize their performance during events. As well as these athletes, any customer of Trifecta reasonably has distrust in the food provider now. Trifecta’s actions have disappointed many and it will take honesty and an action plan to turn their reputation around.

 

Kantian Argument: 

A Kantian argument is rational decision-making and honesty and freedom. A Kantian argument can be made that the Trifecta employees were not honest to the CrossFit Games staff, the athletes, or anyone in this scandal. As shown in the photos above, of text messages with the president of Trifecta Nutrition, it is clear that there was a lack of honesty from Trifecta. Trifecta was also unwilling to disclose what specific restaurants where they sourced food. With this being said, Trifecta did not consider a Kantian ethical theory in their business actions.

 

 

Virtue Theory:

Theory
Character traits that
promote wellness or
flourishing of
individuals within a
society
Theory
Character traits that
promote wellness or
flourishing of
individuals within a
society

Virtue theory is considering character traits that promote wellness or flourishing of individuals within a society. Trifecta did not meet any of the four characteristics of the virtue theory, which are courage, honesty, temperance, or justice. Trifecta did not follow these four characteristics in the slightest way. In fact, it was courageous of them to risk their reputation over a situation that was very controllable from their own ability.

 

Personal Opinion:

            Speaking on my personal opinion of this Trifecta Nutrition scandal, I believe Trifecta to be guilty and in wrongdoing. CrossFit Games have been around since 2007, and it is a very respected and popular event. Athletes work extremely hard every year to be featured in the event, a miniature Olympics if you will, and Trifecta’s actions have foreshadowed that they do not take the event seriously, the athletes seriously, the athletes training seriously, or even have respect for their own business or values, to stick to their statements about, “Every meal is made from scratch, just like you would prepare in your own home, only in much larger volume by professional chefs. Our amazing team of chefs use all organic ingredients, grass-fed meat and wild-caught seafood” and “Organic, premium, pre-made meals”. What would be a great action plan for Trifecta, is to show the meal delivery business that they are now striving to be what they have lacked to be during this time. What I am referring to is Trifecta should show the public, and CrossFit Games, that they can be trusted from now on, and that nothing but Trifecta products will be distributed. The two terminated employees, Jodi Charter and Scott Cooper, should be compensated for their termination, and also, Trifecta should re-evaluate their upper-level management, because an ethical president would not allow such actions to be performed.


Action Plan:

     The current issue, is that Trifecta has been dishonest about what food they are providing to consumers, and have denied all claims against them, despite the evidence produced against the company. With the detailed and strong evidence against Trifecta, a mission statement should include a public apology from Trifecta, to consumers, the Crossfit Games, and the athletes participating in the Crossfit Games, as well as a plan moving forward to prove their future honesty to consumers. Some core values that are important are honesty, customer satisfaction, and quality assurance of the products being produced and distributed. I believe that some upper level management should be fired for allowing these actions to take place, and for a quality assurance worker to be hired or a quality assurance team, to make sure that the products being distributed are Trifecta's own products, as well as that they are to their own quality standard. With Trifecta's dishonesty towards passing off other vendor's food as their own, they have received poor publicity which has to be rebuilt by building a positive reputation with big names. Trifecta has continued to be the provider for Crossfit Games, which shows consumers that the air has been cleared between the nutrition company as well as Crossfit Games. With this plan of showing how trustworthy of a company Trifecta can be moving forward, their business will hopefully return to having an outstanding reputation. 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

About The Author Amy Gesenhues Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, and Amy Gesenhues Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media. “A CMO's View: How IHOP Keeps Winning the Love & Affection of Its 3.5M Facebook Fans.” Marketing Land, 16 Aug. 2016, marketingland.com/cmos-view-ihop-keeps-winning-love-affection-3-5m-facebook-fans-187900. 

“According to Text Messages, Trifecta Coordinated with IHOP for 2017 Games.” Morning Chalk Up, 2018, morningchalkup.com/newsletters/according-to-text-messages-trifecta-coordinated-with-ihop-for-2017-games/. 

Danger, Jessica. “Lawsuit Filed Against Trifecta by Two Former Employees.” Morning Chalk Up, 28 July 2018, morningchalkup.com/2018/07/27/lawsuit-filed-against-trifecta-by-two-former-employees/. 

“How to Win the CrossFit Open (Even If You Come In Last).” VeloPress, 22 Aug. 2017, www.velopress.com/how-to-win-the-crossfit-open-even-if-you-come-in-last/. 

Lofranco, Justin. “According to Text Messages, Trifecta Coordinated with IHOP During 2017 CrossFit Games.” Morning Chalk Up, 30 July 2018, morningchalkup.com/2018/07/29/according-to-text-messages-trifecta-sourced-ihop-food-for-2017-crossfit-games/. 

Maria, Meghan De. “14 Menu Items McDonald's Employees Won't Eat.” Eat This Not That, Eat This Not That, 6 July 2020, www.eatthis.com/mcdonalds-foods-employees-wont-eat/. 

Nutrition, Trifecta. “How It Works.” Trifecta Nutrition, 2020, www.trifectanutrition.com/how-it-works. 

Rodd, Scott. “Organic Food Delivery Company Accused of Serving Chain Restaurant Products.” Bizjournals.com, 2018, www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2018/07/25/organic-food-delivery-service-accused-of.html.