Cheap cricket diplomacy

Sep 17, 2013

The visit of the Faisalabad Wolves to take part in cricket’s Champions League has been ham-handed, to say the least. A basic question is whether a Pakistan T20 team should have been invited when the Pakistan military is misbehaving flagrantly on the Line of Control.

However, once the visit was cleared, it had to be ensured that the welcome was for real.
Sports have always been used as a diplomatic or political chip — in the Hitler era, during the Cold War, in the fight against apartheid South Africa and in the subcontinent. IPL teams refused to bid for Pakistan stars for years on account of security-related fears in this country as India-Pakistan ties were at a low ebb. Notwithstanding the fact that cricketers from the two nations have got on famously, governments have used sports — usually cricket — either as a sign of shuttering up, or to trigger a thaw, depending on political requirements.
The Faislabad Wolves players were given visas for Mohali, but not the twin city of Chandigarh. Consequently, the team was thrown out of a Chandigarh hotel after being permitted to check in on Sunday. This is preposterous, and in infinitely poor taste, besides being against our ethos. Was issuing just a Mohali visa a clerical error or low-minded diplomatic zealousness? Even those who deploy sports for politics must not inflict punishment on players.

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