1. Disagree: Sports is not too closely linked to money.
1.1. Money is used as an incentive for athletes to strive towards excellence.
1.1.1. Allowances or salary is provided to the athletes in order to help them focus on their main priority which is sports, hence easing their financial burden
1.1.2. Incentive to motivate athletes to strive harder and push themselves
1.1.3. Reward sportsmen for their efforts, time and money they have invested into training and nutrition, a compensation for all they have already spent in order to compete.
1.2. Money used for the benefit of disabled athletes.
1.2.1. Money that goes into the research of sporting equipments which allows for the disabled to be able to do sports again.
1.2.2. EXAMPLE: Prosthetic legs
1.2.3. Money that goes into organising events for the disabled so that disabled athletes are still given a chance to compete.
1.2.4. EXAMPLE: Paralympics
2. Agree: Sports is too closely linked to money.
2.1. Results in athletes resorting to underhand methods just to ensure victory at all costs
2.1.1. Due to too much emphasis being placed on winning (because of the large sums of monetary rewards involved).
2.1.2. Goes against the basic principle of sports: fairplay.
2.1.3. Emphasis is placed on victory and not the process, as the saying goes "Winning is not everything" but in this case when sports becomes too closely linked to money, winning inevitably becomes "everything".
2.1.4. EXAMPLE: Ben Johnson, a famous Canadian sprinter, was stripped of his gold medal two days after he broke the world record in 1988 when he was tested positive for the use of steroids.
2.2. Money is used to improve the equipments used for sports. (More money, better technology)
2.2.1. Resulting in a contest of technology instead of strength and skill of the athletes.
2.2.2. Wealthier countries would therefore have the advantage and an edge over their poorer counterparts.
2.2.3. Goes against another principle of sport, where everyone is on a level playing ground.
2.2.4. EXAMPLE: Speedo's lightweight speedsuit, Fastskin FS-PRO, incorporated the latest technology into its production, enabling swimmers to swim faster than before.
2.3. Money is spent on gambling by betting on sports events.
2.3.1. People view betting as an easy mean of winning cash.
2.3.2. This leads to point shaving, a form of match fixing which is a collaboration between key players of the favoured team and gamblers.
2.3.3. An athelete's goal is no longer just winning the match but on not achieving the point spread to attain the large amount wagered on it.
2.3.4. EXAMPLE: Boston College basketball point shaving scandal of 1978-79, which was perpetrated by gangsters Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke.
2.4. Sports as a business industry
2.4.1. Rapid convergence of sports and business has resulted in the blurring distinction between sports and entertainment.
2.4.2. EXAMPLE: Athlete branding (athletes being used in advertisements for sport-related equipments and apparels)
2.4.3. Athletes are also increasingly being 'poached' to another team which offers them a higher salary.
2.4.4. Goes against the principle of sport: Being loyal to one's team (issue about teamwork)