It’s no secret that South Asian sports fans are an emotional lot. Setting fires inside stadiums, pelting teams with bottles, stones and rotten fruit and generally creating a nuisance for everybody involved with the game is now a familiar routine.
But the question is how long will the authorities continue to overlook this issue by dismissing it as trivial and par for the course. Will they act only after a player is seriously injured?
Yesterday in Cuttack, in the Indian state of Odisha, a Twenty20 cricket match between South Africa and India was disrupted twice after spectators frustrated at the Indian team’s showing threw objects onto the field.
Supporters at the sold-out Barabati Stadium threw bottles during the change of innings and again when South Africa were batting, forcing the players off with the visitors 70 for three in 13.2 overs and closing in on victory.
The match resumed after police cleared an upper stand of the stadium and South Africa returned to complete their win on the first delivery of the 18th over with the fall of another wicket.
South Africa, who had won the first match at Dharamshala a few days ago, thus comfortably sealed the three- match series with a six-wicket romp, rendering the final game a dead rubber.
Fans have a right to get emotionally involved in the game but those taking out their frustrations on the players need to be punished, both by the law as well as by the cricket association the venue falls under.
Subcontinental “hooligans”, especially in India and Bangladesh have gotten away lightly over the years and authorities need to come up with a proper plan to prevent such incidents in the future. There have been far too many incidents that could have taken an uglier turn resulting in injuries to players.
In this they can take a cue from football leagues in Europe that have strict penalties in place. Trouble-makers caught in the act can be banned for a number of games or even for life, besides being subjected to court trials resulting in prison terms. Many football hooligans have had their passports seized preventing them from following their teams abroad. In some cases, even the venue has been subjected to spectator bans with matches often played in front of empty stands.
However, the politics of subcontinental cricket means such strict measures would be difficult to implement. With the fate of cricket board honchos depending on the votes of member state associations, authorities often prefer to look the other way whenever spectators behave in an unruly manner.
With top politicians too part of the cricket gravy turn, the matter becomes even more complicated, but obviously such things cannot go on forever. Sports authorities, especially the regional cricket associations should soon come up with measures to ensure such incidents are not repeated in the future.
