The football codes are going the same way. Apparently, it is not enough these days to be good at football. Footballers are being asked to attend disaster relief centres and hospital wards and charity events so they can use their celebrity to endorse good works. Recently, we learnt of a sad example of how this can backfire. Some St Kilda footballers were asked to visit a local high school to motivate the students. One of the girls alleged that she later became pregnant to one of them. Claiming to have lost the baby, she said she felt let down by the club and began releasing embarrassing photographs of the players.

Footballers are not chosen for their moral principles. They do not go into a national draft for budding philanthropists. They can run and catch and kick a ball. What are the clubs thinking when they send them to schools to give guidance on life skills? Any right-thinking parent would quake with fear to hear that footballers were coming to their daughter's school to give a little bit of inspiration.

Read more of Peter Costello's speech at The Age ...