Messi to Button, India has arrived as a sporting destination
We suddenly hear and see that India has become a global sporting destination. And it is not at all about cricket. It is about all kinds of games which were never anticipated to debut in India, sports like the Formula 1 Grand Prix for which tickets are selling for as high as Rs 30,000 (the lowest being for Rs 2,500 which incidentally are sold out) to international football friendlies like the one which just took Kolkata by storm — the one between two times World Cup champions Argentina and fast coming up the ladder football nation Venezuela.
Who would’ve thought a global delight of Lionel Messi’s unmatched stature would troop into Kolkata in the wee hours straight after a 5-0 FC Barcelona win and play his first international match as Argentine skipper in a country which does not even figure in the football map of the world? Who would have thought that a South American football clash would happen, that too as a friendly, on a land which lies on the other side of the world from Latin America?
The surprise should have been mutual though. Had Messi deigned to address even one Press conference or grant even one interview to the media while in India, one would have definitely come to know about his thoughts of 85,000 fans from a completely unknown constituency of supporters blasting their throats off only for him. Really, when was the last time Messi, yes, Messi the global star, wonder kid, icon and all that, ever played to a close to a one lakh crowd cheering for him and only him in a stadium so big?
At the Salt Lake City stadium which boasts of the biggest stand strength in India at 1.2 lakh capacity (another matter though that the facility could not even hold on to its electricity supply thereby compelling the post-match Press conferences to be cancelled midway and sported an awful sound system), there was only Messi happening everywhere.
Had the star bothered to step out of his hotel confines, he would’ve respected the adulation more, considering that many Kolkatans had gone bankrupt trying to buy a ticket for just a glimpse of him. The lowest priced ticket was for `700 which is a huge amount for the constituency that actually fills up football match stadiums in the City of Joy.
Personally, and I hope I am not lynched for saying this, I found Messi to be slouchy on the field when waiting for the ball to fall at his feet, perhaps as slouchy as (please forgive me for saying this) our very own Munaf Patel. But unlike Patel, once the ball reaches Messi’s area of influence, he is a bullet in a hurry. It seems he comes to life only with the ball. Strength, agility, deception, speed and a sublime touch to break the opponent’s cordon transform the slouch to celestial touch and that’s what makes him a legend that defies his diminutive size.
The South Americans are known to be friendly outgoing people without many hang-ups. But in India, they (both Argentina and Venezuela) did not step out of the hotel even once. They could not and would not speak to anyone in the hotel, would not taste Indian food, did not wish to see Kolkata and kept themselves occupied buying, well, elephants, from the curio shop in the hotel because they were told Indian kings used them as chariots!
One wonders why? Granted, Indian security cordons for sporting icons become more hyper than required but stars nevertheless manage to have some fun outside of it. But then they have to express the wish to explore, which very strangely none of the players who came visiting for this friendly seemed inclined for.
Of the many things Messi did not do, one most heartbreaking one was that he did not score a goal even though he was the kingpin of all set-pieces that Argentina set up against the Venezuelans. After debuting as skipper for Argentina (he has been anointed the leader till the 2014 World Cup in Brazil), Messi goes to an even more football crazy country — Bangladesh — where he will be playing against a much weightier opponent in Nigeria and then it’s back home for yet another friendly, this time with Brazil in October.
India, meanwhile, will switch to the fast track literally which has been gaining momentum around Delhi. This, too, is sport not many Indians would know the technicalities of, or even understand what’s happening on the track except the fact that there would be blurring speed and eardrum crashing sounds that will go around them for about two hours after which an iconic motor driver will spill champagne all over him.
But the newness of it all is what is suggesting that the virgin land of India is showing some kind of financial fertility for sports living, blooming and now facing financial trouble outside of its borders.
One hears that the football queue to India is because football bankruptcy, particularly in Europe, has become a cause of concern compelling the FIFA bosses to look for new economies powered by their populations. India thus is ground zero and that’s a welcome sign for the nation. Only, one hopes that this pushes Indian football, or for that matter teams like Force India, to some kind of global firmament. Otherwise, the Liverpool clubs and the FIFA nurseries all over the country would not mean much.
Are you listening sports federations? Perhaps, the Sports Minister should fine tune these federations and the sports they stand for, before looking to bring already successful private enterprises like the BCCI into the official rigmarole that has so far only managed to asphyxiate sport and sportspersons with red tape, lack of infrastructure and most importantly, an absence of will to change for the better.
Source: Published in Sunday Pioneer, 03 September 2011
Who would’ve thought a global delight of Lionel Messi’s unmatched stature would troop into Kolkata in the wee hours straight after a 5-0 FC Barcelona win and play his first international match as Argentine skipper in a country which does not even figure in the football map of the world? Who would have thought that a South American football clash would happen, that too as a friendly, on a land which lies on the other side of the world from Latin America?
The surprise should have been mutual though. Had Messi deigned to address even one Press conference or grant even one interview to the media while in India, one would have definitely come to know about his thoughts of 85,000 fans from a completely unknown constituency of supporters blasting their throats off only for him. Really, when was the last time Messi, yes, Messi the global star, wonder kid, icon and all that, ever played to a close to a one lakh crowd cheering for him and only him in a stadium so big?
At the Salt Lake City stadium which boasts of the biggest stand strength in India at 1.2 lakh capacity (another matter though that the facility could not even hold on to its electricity supply thereby compelling the post-match Press conferences to be cancelled midway and sported an awful sound system), there was only Messi happening everywhere.
Had the star bothered to step out of his hotel confines, he would’ve respected the adulation more, considering that many Kolkatans had gone bankrupt trying to buy a ticket for just a glimpse of him. The lowest priced ticket was for `700 which is a huge amount for the constituency that actually fills up football match stadiums in the City of Joy.
Personally, and I hope I am not lynched for saying this, I found Messi to be slouchy on the field when waiting for the ball to fall at his feet, perhaps as slouchy as (please forgive me for saying this) our very own Munaf Patel. But unlike Patel, once the ball reaches Messi’s area of influence, he is a bullet in a hurry. It seems he comes to life only with the ball. Strength, agility, deception, speed and a sublime touch to break the opponent’s cordon transform the slouch to celestial touch and that’s what makes him a legend that defies his diminutive size.
The South Americans are known to be friendly outgoing people without many hang-ups. But in India, they (both Argentina and Venezuela) did not step out of the hotel even once. They could not and would not speak to anyone in the hotel, would not taste Indian food, did not wish to see Kolkata and kept themselves occupied buying, well, elephants, from the curio shop in the hotel because they were told Indian kings used them as chariots!
One wonders why? Granted, Indian security cordons for sporting icons become more hyper than required but stars nevertheless manage to have some fun outside of it. But then they have to express the wish to explore, which very strangely none of the players who came visiting for this friendly seemed inclined for.
Of the many things Messi did not do, one most heartbreaking one was that he did not score a goal even though he was the kingpin of all set-pieces that Argentina set up against the Venezuelans. After debuting as skipper for Argentina (he has been anointed the leader till the 2014 World Cup in Brazil), Messi goes to an even more football crazy country — Bangladesh — where he will be playing against a much weightier opponent in Nigeria and then it’s back home for yet another friendly, this time with Brazil in October.
India, meanwhile, will switch to the fast track literally which has been gaining momentum around Delhi. This, too, is sport not many Indians would know the technicalities of, or even understand what’s happening on the track except the fact that there would be blurring speed and eardrum crashing sounds that will go around them for about two hours after which an iconic motor driver will spill champagne all over him.
But the newness of it all is what is suggesting that the virgin land of India is showing some kind of financial fertility for sports living, blooming and now facing financial trouble outside of its borders.
One hears that the football queue to India is because football bankruptcy, particularly in Europe, has become a cause of concern compelling the FIFA bosses to look for new economies powered by their populations. India thus is ground zero and that’s a welcome sign for the nation. Only, one hopes that this pushes Indian football, or for that matter teams like Force India, to some kind of global firmament. Otherwise, the Liverpool clubs and the FIFA nurseries all over the country would not mean much.
Are you listening sports federations? Perhaps, the Sports Minister should fine tune these federations and the sports they stand for, before looking to bring already successful private enterprises like the BCCI into the official rigmarole that has so far only managed to asphyxiate sport and sportspersons with red tape, lack of infrastructure and most importantly, an absence of will to change for the better.
Source: Published in Sunday Pioneer, 03 September 2011
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