Cite fair play as subtle deception (8)
I believe the answer is:
artifice
'subtle deception' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'cite fair play' is the wordplay.
'play' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cite'+'fair'='citefair'
'citefair' with letters rearranged gives 'ARTIFICE'.
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for artifice that I've seen before include "Crafty deception or stratagem" , "Deceptive manoeuvre, ruse" , "BRICK/TRICK" , "Clever trickery" , "skilful deception" .)