Sporting form

Sir, Simon Barnes (Feb 8) asks: “Do we watch football entirely to see who wins and loses?” The honest answer from most fans should be “yes”. The majority of fans would rather see a boring win for their team as opposed to an entertaining draw — most cannot allow themselves to recognise, far less applaud, the skills of the opposition because for most of them football is a tribal affair divorced from sporting principles — their overriding concern is the win/lose balance sheet and to hear or see most sets of football fans is confirmation of an atavistic blindness to the joys of the “beautiful game” — unless it comes from their own side. Diving is symptomatic of a sport corrupted as much by its fans as by its players and coaches.