When Resting Becomes Cheating: The Fine Line Between Strategy and Tanking in Sports The Australian Football League's (AFL) memo to teams to "perform to their merits" has reignited a heated debate about the ethics of resting players before finals.
While some see it as a clever strategy to manage player fatigue, others view it as a form of tanking – deliberately losing games to manipulate draft picks or improve a team's position in the competition.
The AFL's stance on the matter seems straightforward: teams must perform honestly and to the best of their ability.