ABOUT £28 million can be raised to secure the services of footballer Wayne Rooney.

It is impossible to estimate what it costs, from Sven Goran Eriksson down, to seek England's footballing glory.

Look at the fuel and cost throughout the world to sustain all forms of motor racing (excluding the cost to the environment). I could go on.

It's hard to justify the cost against the painful deaths of the world's sick and starving children and the acute shortage of funding for relieving the suffering of victims of horrific, disabling diseases.

Professional "sport" has brainwashed the public into a fantasy world.I should rather see countries battle for supremacy at the Olympics than be at war with weapons. But how much "relief" could have been available for humanitarian needs with the enormous cost being utilised for the less fortunate?

We should concentrate on peace and health for all before we embark on glory for the few. The end result would be a victory worth celebrating.

Gordon Ross,

Huntington Road, York.

Updated: 10:16 Wednesday, September 01, 2004