Sports and games have always been either pleasurable pastime or competition sometimes connected with military training. They were played since Antiquity. Games very similar to football and volleyball were played in ancient Egypt. Olympic Games in Greece gave origin to modern sports competition given that name. The Greeks and Romans liked horse and chariot racing so they built hippodromes. Athletics included running various distances, boxing, jumping, and throwing the discus.
In Greece sportsmen were amateurs, while Roman gladiators fought not only to save life, but also to get money. Contemporary sport has become an industry and contemporary sportsmen are very similar to gladiators. Not only football clubs but also sports teams have their coats of arms and uniforms worn by their fans who buy the club hats, T-shirts, scarves and jackets. These items of clothing are sold together with gadgets and souvenirs so those who make and distribute them get much money. There is also much income from the tickets, whose prices can reach incredible values, from 200 to 15 000 dollars. It is rather little compared to the money for televising the events, as the sums reach the level of several million dollars. This includes the gratification for the athletes and players, who can be sometimes called modern gladiators, as the risks accompanying modern sports are very high. No wonder they are sometimes paid as much as 2 million dollars for their performance.
It seems that despite the modern developments, there are still two attitudes towards sport. One is that of an amateur who plays for pleasure and satisfaction and the other one is an attitude of a gladiator for who sport means money first of all.
