Sports and political protests go back a long way

Angry Chennai Super Kings fans and sports enthusiasts who have been ranting about the dangerous mix of politics and sports since the shifting of IPL matches from Chepauk might do well to refresh their knowledge of history. None would or should accept hurling of shoes at players or assaulting of fans at MA Chidambaram stadium or any-where else and above all dispute one’s democratic right to enjoy cricket when most of the state was discussing the Cauvery row. 

However, sports buffs may not be entirely right in wanting sports and politics kept separated. History, both local and international, suggests that there was an effective blend of politics and sports during some of the crucial moments of the world. Who would illustrate the effective blend better than the legendary boxer Mohammed Ali himself. 

Ali was handed a five-year prison term, US$ 10,000 fine and three-year ban for refusing to draft for Vietnam War. “I ain’t got no quarrel with those vietcong,” said the famous pugilist, bullied by most of the country for refusing to draft for the war.

“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hunger people in the mud for big powerful America. They never called me nigger, they never lynched me,” Ali had famously voiced against Vietnam, a year before his conviction for draft evasion and suspension of license. 

Ali, one of the greatest boxers ever, later went on the become the sportsman of the century (selected by BBC) for transcending the realm of politics as much as sports would suffice. 

Remarkably, it was not just boxing. The universal of all sports, football, too has had its share of politics. Socrates Vieira De Oliveira, the attacking midfielder of the great 1980s Brazilian national team, better known as “Doctor Soc-rates” for the medical degree he had possessed and his political awareness, is remembered both for his politics and mesmerising on-the- field qualities. 

Sometime in 1984, when Socrates addressed a pro-democracy rally, he had promised that he would not move to Italian club Fiorentina if the Congress passed the Constitutional amendment to re-establish free presidential elections. 

His political activism was so popular that Guardian’s football cartoonist David Squires recalled the legendary footballer’s love for politics in his new book “The Illustrated History of Football; Hall of Fame” published in November 2017, 34 years since “The Doctor” offered to compromise career for democracy.

To those CSK fans and critics who might consider Ali and Socrates too old to recollect, the name Colin Kaepernick should ring a bell, not just because the quarterback of San Francisco 49ers was good on Football (American) field, but also for this politics. Kaepernick took a knee when the US national anthem was played before a match in San Diego to protest the violence against African-Americans in 2016. 

He was joined shortly by Oakland Raiders linebackers Bruce Irvin and Malcolm Smith who raised their fists as the national anthem played at Tenessee, as did compatriot Olympians and John Carlos during the medal distribution ceremony after the 200m race in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico. 

Most recently in October 2017, Football Club Barcelona, one of the most popular football clubs in the world, had played a La Liga match against Las Palmas behind closed doors at Camp Nou stadium after the Spanish Football federation refused to postpone the match. 

The Catalan federation had suspended all regional matches following violence during the independence referendum to break away from Spain. Barca vice president Carles Vilarubbi had resigned in protest of the decision to play against Las Palmas, which had released a statement that it would wear jerseys with Spanish flag, which, it also did.

If the US and European illustrations do not suffice, enthusiasts arguing against the mix of politics and sports should rethink on why IPL had kept Pakistan players (Azhar Mahmood was the lone exception as he had a British passport then) out of the league after the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes. CNN Sports Analyst Christine Brennan had rightly pointed out the mix in a CNN news article in which he said, “Sports is really no longer an escape from the real world that it used to be. Sports is a mirror of our society. I think because Trump is so controversial and because the things he’s saying and doing run counter to what many believe…. Athletes are finding their voice in a way that is reminiscent of the 1960s.” 

Perhaps, it is time for players and athletes here, more than fringe political outfits, to emulate their western counterparts and attempt some politics when they hit the fields next time.