Participants may cheat to unfairly increase their chances of winning or to achieve other benefits such as financial gain. The widespread use of gambling on the results of sporting events creates motivation for match-fixing, when a participant or participants intentionally work to ensure a given result, and not just play to win.
The competitive nature of the sport encourages some participants to try to improve their results with medication or other means, such as increasing the volume of blood in their body artificially.
All sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are required to conduct a testing program for the presence of a list of prohibited drugs, while participants who test positive for prohibited substances are suspended from the competition.
Violence in sports involves crossing the line between fair competition and deliberate aggressive violence. Athletes, coaches, fans, and parents sometimes show violence towards people or property, mistakenly demonstrating loyalty, dominance, anger, or triumph. Riots or hooliganism by fans, in particular, are a problem at some national and international sports competitions.
Youth sports provide children with opportunities for entertainment, socialization, forming relationships with peers, physical training and sports scholarships. Activists for education and the war on drugs promote youth sports as a means of increasing participation in education and combating the illegal drug trade. According to the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the National Children's Hospital, the greatest risk to youth sports is death or serious injury, including concussion. These risks are associated with running, basketball, association football, volleyball, sports netting, gymnastics and ice hockey.
Sports for the disabled, also adaptive sports or para—sports, are sports that people with disabilities, including physical and intellectual disabilities, engage in. Because many of them are based on existing sports modified to meet the needs of people with disabilities, they are sometimes referred to as adapted sports. However, not all sports for the disabled are adapted; some sports that were specifically created for people with disabilities do not have an equivalent in sports for the able-bodied population.