In recent weeks, the world of sport has reminded us that it is not only politicians who resort to the age-old, think-on-your-feet art of bare-faced lying. But, lacking the rhetorical finesse of a Tony Blair or Bill Clinton, the sports personalities of today seem to be having more than a little trouble talking their way out of sticky situations.

Just over a week ago, the European Ryder cup team suffered the humiliation of a convincing 16 ½ to 11 ½ loss to their counterparts from across the pond – a team even their own countrymen referred to as "rookies" and "underdogs." However, the embarrassment for the Europeans was not restricted to their performance on the golf course.

With three days of high-stakes, winner-takes-all golf still to play, team Captain Nick Faldo let slip one of the most cringe-worthy porky-pies I've heard for a while.

Having been photographed holding a list on which were hand-written the names of various European players, Faldo eventually responded to repeated questioning by petulantly announcing that he had been holding “a lunch list” detailing the preferred sandwich choices of his team mates.

However, rather than revealing the fact that Henrik Stenson is a Meatball Marinara man, whilst Ian Poulter favours the traditional English BLT, it was all too clear that the much-publicised list in fact denoted Team Europe’s parings for the crucial and highly-anticipated first group. Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia would be sent out first, followed by Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson, with Poulter, Rose, Stenson, McDowell and Casey bringing up the rear.

Having held out as long as he could, Faldo eventually cracked, confessing the true purpose of the list. The game was up, the truth was out and the Captain was left with enough egg on his face to scoop off and make sandwiches for the whole of the Professional Golfers Association.

But it hasn't just been Faldo who has had to exercise his limited ability to come up with a quick-witted response to the mass-media in recent weeks. Less than 24 hours after boldly pledging his undying allegience to his prospective new club, Chelsea, Señor Robinho completed a record-breaking ₤32.5 million move to recently-bankrolled Premiership nobodies Manchester City, who just happened to offer him a contract worth ₤160,000 per week. Now how was he going to explain that one? Like Faldo, the Brazilian was going to have to think on his feet.

As sports fans the world over waited with bated breath to hear how English football's most expensive player would attempt to justify snubbing the Champions' League runners-up in favour of the mid-table, newly-crowned richest club in the world, the money-grabbing superstar did not fail to deliver.

Citing two principal reasons for his move to Eastlands, Robinho began by stating that the fact that his fellow Brazilian internals, Jo and Elano were already at the club was a major factor in his decision. Yet, if the company of his fellow countrymen was such a major priority, surely Chelsea, managed by Brazilian legend Louiz Felipe Scolari, and boasting a wealth of samba stars, including Alex and Juliano Belletti, would have sufficed.

In a desperate attempt to further the belief that he is little more than a soulless penny-snatcher, Robinho then went on to utter the immortal line: "I knew that City are a very big club, there's a great team there and this is an exciting project." Well at least the last few words ring true, I mean, who wouldn't be excited at the prospect of becoming the highest-paid player in the world's richest league? But to speak God's honest truth, City are an average team at best, and to refer to their squad as "great" is more than a polite overstatement.

In this rising culture of the world's elite sportsmen feeling the need to lie to the hungry media, when, as we all know, the truth is already out there, perhaps the likes of Faldo and Robinho would benefit from taking a leaf out of AC Milan goalkeeper, Christan Abbiatti's book. Amidst the ongoing debate over Italy's Fascist past, and right-wing present, under the leadership of President and Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi, Abbiati unashamedly revealed the truth about his politics. "I am not ashamed to proclaim my political beliefs," announced the opinionated keeper, continuing: "I share the ideals of Fascism, such as the fatherland and the values of the Catholic religion." Actually, on second thoughts, maybe that's not such a good idea.