Nationalism, Cricket and the Religio-Politics of Sport

Doctoral candidate, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada

Amarnath Amarasingam 

Nationalism, Cricket and the Religio-Politics of Sport

In 1968, Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee, declared that sports, "like music and the other fine arts, transcends politics." The statement came out of a sentiment of hope rather than fact, and was, of course, incredibly naive. If Claude von Clausewitz is correct that war is merely "politics by other means," then the same can be said about sports. In 1968, the Mexican government killed several students protesting the Olympics in Mexico City. In 1972, Arab terrorists kidnapped and killed Israeli athletes in Munich. Dozens of countries boycotted the 1976 Olympics in Montreal because New Zealand insisted on maintaining "sports relations" with apartheid South Africa. Countries like Honduras and El Salvador have gone to war over soccer, and when East German athletes wanted to compete in the United States, they were denied visas for two decades. The list goes on and on, but points to one thing: sport has never transcended politics and never will.   Full Story...
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Cricket and politics in Sri Lanka

Namini Wijedasa

The Sri Lankan team lost the 2011 Cricket World Cup to India but were welcomed home like winners. Was this politics or the true Sri Lankan spirit of embracing losers as equally as they would victors?
Cricket in Sri Lanka is increasingly a political affair. While sports ministers are known to dabble freely in the affairs of Sri Lanka Cricket, it is the country’s president who recommends members to the interim board of this administrative body.
Why interim? Not since 2004 have elections been held to Sri Lanka Cricket, earlier called the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka. A small clause in the law allows the relevant minister to appoint an interim committee to administer the sport but he takes recommendations from the president. Since elections cannot guarantee members whose sympathies lie with the regime, an interim committee has become the norm rather than the exception.
In the run-up to the April 2 final with India, this was much debated within Sri Lanka’s acrimonious, divisive political arena. The row started with a comment made by Arjuna Ranatunga, who captained the team that won the 1996 World Cup. Now an outspoken opposition MP, Ranatunga was asked by an Indian TV channel what advice he would offer the Sri Lankan team. He replied that he no longer counsels the cricket team as President Mahinda Rajapaksa has assumed that role.
If Ranatunga had meant to goad the government- and the president - into a backlash, he succeeded. The state media honed in on the remark, accusing him of destroying team morale and discrediting Sri Lanka internationally. This continues even after the Cricket World Cup in what seems to be an attempt to somehow link Sri Lanka’s defeat with Ranatunga’s ill-advised, politically motivated statement.  Full Story>>>