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G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time)

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Photo by Fauzan Saari on Unsplash

The greatest individual player in a quintessentially team sport is an anomaly and incongruity of sorts. This has not stopped the billion plus football-crazy fans mulling over just that or umpteen expert panels on TV debating just that. For the elderly generation of Brazil football fans the answer is obvious. Move the clock forward to the 80’s and all of Argentina and Naples and much of the world shouts the name ‘Maradona’. Step forward to the modern era and many find it difficult to comprehend that there has ever been a player that does magical things with the football that a certain Barcelona player does. The GOAT debate simmers on with country and club loyalties thrown in and generational perspectives kicking in.

Membership of this ultra-elite club demands longevity and consistency in impactful performances, trophies & international laurels and of course – goals and assists.  The latter criteria modified to embrace the great goalkeepers, defenders and mid-fielders and their wonderful saves, interceptions and passes. After all, soccer is the ultimate team sport.

Pele (Edson Arantes Do Nascimento) of Brazil and FC Santos needs no introduction. Fifty years after his last World Cup, he still tops most GOAT lists. 3 time World Cup medal winner (1958, ‘62, ‘70). 77 goals in 92 appearance in the Canary yellow Jersey (the iconic No 10), 650 goals in 694 matches for his clubs. Voted the International Athlete of the Century by the IOA (International Olympic Association). Pele combined speed with creativity, skill with physical power and stamina with athleticism at a level never seen before. Johann Cyruff, the Dutch legend, said that, “Pele was the only player who surpassed the boundaries of logic.” His lowest point was the WC ‘66, where the Bulgarians fouled and kicked him out of the second game. Then Portugal took over with shockingly violent fouls and the great man hobbled through the 90 mins as substitutes were not allowed at that time. The world’s best player was kicked and stamped out of the tournament with the referees looking the other way. He vowed never to play in another World Cup. But come 1970 and faith was restored in the beautiful game. By Pele and a Brazilian squad still considered one of the best ever- Jairzinho, Tostao, Rivelino, Gerson. Brazil were champions once again and Pele crowned ‘the Player of the Tournament.’

Pele had become the global face of football- powering its endless and exponential growth. In 1975 near retirement, he signed a $7 million deal with the New York Cosmos making him the richest athlete in the world. We also remember the hysteria in Calcutta when he came over with the Cosmos side in 1977 for an exhibition match with Mohan Bagan. 25,000 policemen were deployed in the city, at the hotel and the stadium to prevent this feverish enthusiasm from boiling over. Exactly 10 years earlier he had played in another exhibition match in Lagos in war ravaged Nigeria. The military and the separatists had announced a 48 hour cease-fire to allow this special event to happen.

Lev Yashin, the Soviet footballer, is considered by many as the greatest goal keeper in the history of the sport. The only goal keeper to be awarded the Ballon d’Or in 1963. With his club Dynamo Moscow he won 5 league championships. His influence can be gauged by the fact that over a 27 game season he let in only 7 goals. He emerged as a star as  part of the 1956 Olympic gold medal winning Soviet team conceding only 2 goals and led the team to their best ever FIFA WC finish- 4th place- in 1966. Over his career he is said to have stopped over a 100 penalty kicks. His athleticism, positioning and acrobatic saves made him an inspiring figure in the goal. Yashin’s physical stature, sheer reflexes and bravery made him a Hero of the Soviet Union. His face adorned all the FIFA 2018 WC posters. It will not be an exaggeration to say that he invented the concept of a sweeper- goal keeper. He dramatically changed the role of goalkeeping by always being ready to act as an extra defender or by starting dangerous counter-attacks through a quick throw or a precisely directed kick.

In the Soviet psyche of his times the goalkeeper virtually represented the last line of defence. As his wife stirringly mentioned after his death, “Any mistakes a goalkeeper makes, everyone sees it. They remember it. They talk about it. The goalkeeper is the last line, the one on the border. If that border is breached, it’s a goal.” She should know. In the ‘62 WC Lev Yashin let in 2 soft goals as his team crashed out 2-1 to Chile. His house in Moscow was attacked. Placards and banners of ‘Yashin, Retire!’ & ‘Get out and take your pension’ were all over the city.

Johann Cyruff, the Dutch mid-fielder revolutionised the game as we see it today. He and his mentor, Rinus Michels, created the ‘Total Football’ philosophy with club Ajax- a tactic which allowed for versatility to the players all over the pitch irrespective of their positions. This disruptive flexibility meant that their position was immediately filled by another player. Ajax were unstoppable from the late 60’s, winning 6 titles from 1966-73 and a hat-trick of European Cups in 1971-72-73. He was the European player of the year thrice and also won the Ballon d’Or thrice. He scored 204 goals to propel Ajax to greatness as a club and netted 23 as the Dutch captain.  Between  1970-74 the Netherlands lost only one of the 29 matches in which Cyruff featured i.e.  the 1974 WC final against hosts Germany. He moved on the field like a grandmaster. He created the most chances, completed the most passes in the final third of the pitch and simply befuddled the opponent defences. In his prime, the Ajax club side and the Dutch national team enjoyed the maximum possession of the ball. They set the pace, they controlled the game.

Gordon Banks, the English goalkeeper was named the FIFA goal keeper of the year an incredible 6 times. He had 73 caps for England between 1958 and 1972 and 600 plus club appearances for Leicester and Stoke City. He started every England match in their glorious WC quest in 1966 and let in only 3 goals. In the 1970 edition he made what is regarded as one of the greatest saves to prevent a Pele goal. He also starred in the 1972 league win by Stoke. Sadly, the same year he lost his right eye in a car crash ending his career at the highest level.

Franz Beckenbauer was named in the World team of the 20th century. He is often credited as the inventor of the modern sweeper or libero. A central defender, he retained the ability to charge up the pitch with the ball at his feet. Fearless and effective. This versatility made him a dangerous player. He notched up 427 appearances for the elite German club, Bayern Munich and 103 for the German national side. As captain of his country, he won the European Championship in 1972 and the World Cup in 1974. At club level Bayern Munich won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1967 and under his leadership 3 European Cups from 1974 to 1976. Add to all these triumphs, the Ballon d’Or in 1972. No wonder, he was nicknamed ‘Der Kaiser’, for his elegant style, dominance and leadership aura on the field.

Diego Maradona became a global phenomenon after the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He did something truly extraordinary- carrying an average Argentinian team to a World Cup victory. The controversial ‘Hand of God’ goal against England is still talked about but the superlative second goal still takes our breath away. As does the artistry and brilliance of the double strike in the semis against Belgium. At a mere 5 ft 5 inches, compact and built low to the ground he was exceptional at evading defenders with sheer ability and ball skills. It has been said that he had the stamina of a full back, the strength of a centre back, tackling ability of a defensive mid-fielder, passing acumen of a playmaker and the finishing ability of a great striker. He has been named FIFA player of the century along with who else, Pele. Maradona, a midfielder, has scored 34 times for his country in 91 matches and 259 times in 490 club appearances. He is still worshipped as a saint in Naples. The fairy tale title win in 1987 is still savoured as is the Napoli encore in 1990. Rumour has it that 1988 also would have been their year- as the team were cruising along- had the Mafia not stepped in. Another Serie A win would have ruined their betting syndicates. Maradona had moved to the Italian League after a couple of turbulent seasons with FC Barcelona. But not before lifting the Catalan club to a couple of titles.

Sadly in the 1994 US WC, he played only 2 matches scoring one goal. He was sent home in disgrace having failed a drug test.  The cocaine addiction was taking its toll and his health worsened drastically .It would be no exaggeration to say that Fidel Castro and the Cuban public health service saved his life. The Cuban leader who had become a father figure over the years ensured that he got the best treatment and rehabilitation the healthcare system had to offer. Sadly, a couple of weeks back, Maradona  passed away at the age of 60. As the foot balling world mourns the loss, some great players lauded him as the G.O.A.T in their fulsome tributes.

The Brazilian Ronaldo Nazario is considered one of the most lethal goal poachers in football. His immense speed and power made him a handful for the best of the defenders. 62 goals in 98 matches for his country; an astounding 15 goals in 2 World Cups (1998, 2002) speaks volumes about his sterling abilities. The WC winner medal in 2002 plus the Golden Boot award.  FIFA player of the year thrice. Stellar careers at illustrious clubs like AC Milan, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven. The mysteriously low point for Ronaldo was the ‘98 WC final against France. He is said to have convulsed before the match at the team hotel. Shaking and with froth in his mouth. Definitely not fit to play. But then he took the field, a shadow of himself and watched the French romp to a 3-0 win. It was widely reported that the star player had been forced to play under pressure from the sponsors, Nike. Another theory was that it was an injection for a knee injury which had gone wrong. However, Brazil kept its faith in Ronaldo and he repaid it with the World Cup four years later.

Paolo Maldini, Italy and AC Milan, has to be one of the most complete players the game has seen. A left back and central defender, he read the game wonderfully well.  He was skilled with his feet, excellent in the air and had the uncanny ability to marshal a staunch defence even at the fag-end of an exhausting match. He dispossessed the opposition player by a mixture of anticipation, interception and physicality. He redefined defending as a beautiful art form and was imperiously consistent. His oft repeated quote, “If I have to make a tackle then I have already made a mistake” summed up his classy approach to defending. A one-club player he turned out for Milan a record 902 times. With his club he won 7 Serie A titles and the UEFA Championship League trophy 5 times. He donned the Italian jersey for 4 World Cups including at the 94 WC final loss. He captained the national team for 8 years and 74 matches (out of 126 caps). As fate would have it he got a call up to play for Italy at the 2006 WC, “I said no to the call-up in 2006 and they won.”

Zinedine Zidane is another name which universally makes the cut. A physically imposing central mid-fielder he was light on his feet and his elegance with the ball was incredibly brilliant. He also possessed this uncanny knack of reading the game several moves ahead. His high point was the 1998 World Cup win for France against favourites Brazil. He scored twice in the finals and became the toast of the nation. Capped 108 times for France he also won the UEFA Euro 2000 and was named player of the tournament. With 31 international goals and 128 more in club football with Real Madrid and Juventus this attacking midfielder broadened the dimensions of the game to amazing levels. A master playmaker and an effective interceptor. A Ballon d’Or winner, 3 times FIFA player of the year. Unfortunately, he is also remembered for the head-butt incident in the 2006 WC final. After a slow start Zidane dragged a lack-lustre French squad into the final with Italy. Italy’s  Materazzi  made some unprintable comments on Zizou’s sister and the latter lost it for a moment. The red-card and the heart-breaking loss. I recall a head-line which went like this, “In dragging France to the 2006 WC final Zidane hinted at immortality and once they got there he proved his mortality.”

Think Ronaldinho and you think of the bucktoothed grin, the sublime free-kicks and the sense of fun he brought to the field. Football was an expression of self. Entertainment always seemed to be the top priority and even above winning but his super skills usually ensured both. The WC winners medal in 2002 and the Ballon d’Or in 2005 simply happened along the way. As did 66 free kick goals. The training regimen and the ultra-professional habits of the world’s best footballers were not for this Brazilian magician. The right wing midfielder achieved so much even without trying. In 2005 he achieved the unthinkable. With 2 magical goals for FC Barcelona against arch rivals Real Madrid. The packed Bernabeu was on its feet applauding the beauty of what they had witnessed. Sad to say, one of the world’s best No 10 has become prisoner no 194. In jail for 32 days with his brother on charges of travelling on a false passport to Paraguay and money laundering. He has posted a $1.6 million bail and recently been freed after pleading guilty to the passport fraud.

Gianluigi Buffon, the famous Italian goalkeeper finally announced his retirement in 2018 after 176 caps for Italy. In a career spanning 27 years and 649 Serie A matches, he spent the majority of the time with Juventus and has become a folk-hero in Turin. 7 Serie A & 4 Coppa Italia titles with Juventus , the UEFA Cup with Parma. A decisive role in Italy’s WC win in 2006 conceding only 2 goals in 7 matches, that too a penalty and an own goal by a teammate. His speciality lay in his exceptional positioning in set-piece situations; his long and athletic frame plus his agility and exceptional reflexes made him very capable of blocking penalty kicks and angled headers. Hence, Buffon has a jaw-dropping 300 plus clean-sheets to his name and career.

At the age of 13, Lionel Messi’s precocious footballing talents so impressed the FC Barcelona scouts and management that he moved to the Catalan city. The club paid for his expensive treatment for growth hormonal deficiency. In just 4 years he moved to the first team and the rest is history. 10 La Liga wins, 4 UEFA trophies, 6 Copa del Rey. A stupendous 678 goals for Barcelona at a mind-boggling 0.92 goals per game.36 La Liga hat-tricks and 26 El Classico goals against arch-rival Real Madrid. The only player to net more than 40 goals for 10 consecutive seasons. 6 Ballon d’Or (the highest), 6 European Golden Shoe awards and 10 player of the year citations. The accolades go on….. But they don’t tell the full story. For Messi to millions of football fans all over transcends awards and stats. He is the modern maestro of the Beautiful Game- the biggest box office draw today. His ability to manipulate the ball with deft touches and quick movements have often been described as ‘Out of this world’. Seasoned commentators and great yester year players have gone ga-ga whilst commenting about the magic he weaves on the pitch. What adds to the aura of his genius is the sheer number of assists he conjures up for country and club. An all-time high 42 assists for the national side + 71 goals in 142 games. A record 183 assists in the La Liga. The albatross around his neck is the lack of international titles with the national side.  Just an Olympic gold medal in Beijing 2008. In the WC final against Germany in 2014 and the 3 Copa America finals he has ended up on the losing side. No matter that he won the Golden Ball at WC ‘14. His legions of fans speak about the fragility of the Argentinian team and how he had to single-handedly qualify them for the WC in Russia two years back. Then the shadow of Maradona spreads across the pitch. The other painful story is how the Barca dream has fallen apart this season. After 20 years at the club & 14 glorious years as its inspirational player Messi will be exiting in June next year.  The ineptitude and indifference of the Club President and Management has been shocking to say the least.

CR7. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, Man U, Real Madrid, Juventus and possibly Man U again. He has netted 451 times in 438 games for Real Madrid averaging a little over a goal a match. Mind boggling. With the Spanish club he has won 4 European Cups, 3 Club World Cups, 3 UEFA Super Cups, 2 La Liga titles and 2 Copa del Rey. In 2016 he captained the Portuguese side to the European Championship triumph. A 5 time Ballon d’Or winner. A rare specimen of supreme physical fitness, his tall frame and tremendous pace terrorises defences. Add an almost unstoppable free kick to the arsenal. A unique feature of this very fast player is the exhibition of the double scissors and chop moves which allows him to quickly change directions.  In 2018, the Turin medical staff did a medical test on this supreme athlete and found that his condition at 34 was the same as a 20 year old. With an incredible 50% muscle and 7% body fat. Watch the insane 2.65 metre jump header against Sampdoria in the Serie A match last year. Awesome. One of the greatest goals of all time. The prolific striker has added 2 Italian championship titles to his remarkable trophy haul. As the highest paid footballer and the athlete with the highest social media following, Ronaldo is in a league of his own. Both he and Messi have only a year or two left at the very top. Will be interesting to see how things pan out for them. But the Messi vs Ronaldo debate is not going to end any time soon.  His fans often make the point that the Argentine tends to disappear in some matches whilst their Man has his moments even in a below par game. CR 7’s global popularity has also seen him evolve as an entrepreneur with set goals. His footwear line ‘CR 7 footwear’ is making footprints across the Middle East, South East Asia & Latin America. His association with a Portuguese hotel chain have led to expansions in Lisbon, Madrid and New York. And of course there is the lifetime mega contract with Nike Inc.

So is there a definitive G.O.A.T  ranking. Not quite. Football associations and sports magazines and TV channels conduct their own surveys and publish their own results. A recent French Sports list anointed Buffon as the best goalkeeper of all time. Another by Sport Bible and BBC put Lionel Messi on top of the charts. Moreover football aficionados have their own choices, their own way of looking at things. This adds another dimension to the never-ending discussion especially on social media.

RESPECT. Old timers may recall Alfredo Di Stefano and the Golden Age of Real Madrid. Or Hungarian Ferenc Puskas hailed as the top scorer of the 20th century  and in whose name a FIFA award has been instituted. The bow-legged Brazilian dazzler, Garrincha, recepient of 2 WC winner medals and still revered in his country. The Roll of Honour includes the English midfielder Bobby Charlton of the 1966 WC champions team and the Ballon d ‘Or winner in the same year. A survivor of the great Manchester United team which lost several of its players in the Munich plane crash of 1958. Gerd Muller, the hero of the’74 WC for hosts Germany. Named ‘Der Bomber’ for his precise and deadly strikes.  There will be enthusiastic support for the elegant Michel Platini of France and the savvy German captain Lothar Matthaus. For the mercurial genius of George Best the winger for Man U and Northern Ireland; for David Beckham of ‘Bend It like Beckham’ fame and the ‘Flying Dutchman’- Robin Van Persie. There will be millions rooting for the Italian goalie Dino Zoff who led his team to the ’82 WC triumph at the ripe age of 40 and holds the record for conceding no goals for 1142 minutes.  The almost impregnable Oliver Kahn under the German goal-post. Didier Drogba the famous Chelsea and Marseille striker and the most beloved person in the West African nation of Ivory Coast. The show will go on.

The legends, celebrated in the blog, are the recurrent names which resonate across the global footballing fraternity. Animated discussions continue in TV studios and magazine offices, clubs and bars all over the globe. It keeps the pot boiling and certainly adds flavour and spice to the world’s favourite sport.

Cans of Worms

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The mysterious deaths of the talented actor, Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) and his one-time manager Disha Salian have created frenzy in the media space and in political circles. There are some who dismiss it as TRP sensationalism when the country is facing a COVID and economic crises. They do have a very valid point. The Lutyens group and their Bollywood cronies have derided it as the media trial of a helpless Rhea Chakraborty and her decent, middle-class family. A veritable witch-hunt.! A chorus of other reasonable people question why an actor’s apparent suicide is deflecting attention from a 23% drop in GDP and the tense confrontation with China at the LAC. Pause. The palpable panic which has gripped the Maharashtra coalition government tells a different story. B-town after the usual sarcasm from the usual suspects has gone deathly silent. That the Mumbai police is being played by their political masters is becoming more obvious by the day. What a fall from grace for the professional Bombay force of the Julio Ribeiro days.

There is something rotten in the state of Mumbai. The cover-up of SSR’s death has inadvertently opened up a can of worms.  A smelly, filthy, ugly can of worms. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe is haunting the powers that be- politicos, cops, Bollywood, drug cartels and the larger Mafia. The investigation has become an expose not only of possible homicides or abetted suicide but of a huge drug ring, hawala racket, narco-terrorism and even a deliberate undermining of our nation’s security and interests. The ‘Janata’ following the case for 3 months are keeping their fingers crossed.

It is my hope and prayer that this Trimurti effort be entrusted to the best professionals and be given a free hand.  Let the facts come out. Let the truth prevail. Let this not be an elaborate ploy just to get the BJP party back in power in the State. If the Aghadi Sarkar comes down be sure that the politicians will again show their true colours- cling on to whatever power or position they can. President’s rule for a couple of years will be the right decision. The BJP should not forget that this can of worms has taken a multi-dimensional life of its own.

I have long been convinced that political parties have a secret pact of their own. They may spew vitriol at each other in public but there is a tacit understanding in private. Whichever party is in power will not go after the big fish in the opposition ranks. There is a mutual protection agreement amongst the political elite. Please do not get misled by the occasional case of a Jayalalitha or Lalu Yadav spending some time in comfortable confinement.

The investigative dossiers may be there, so also the proofs. But nobody goes the whole hog. Mr Chidambaram spends sometime in the cooler on alleged corruption charges. Remember that he had sent the present Home Minister to jail when he was the Home Minister…?! This money laundering case too will linger on and the public will forget. Most intriguing was the ₹ 15,000 crore bogus stamp papers Telgi scam. His narco-tests were suddenly shown on some TV channels, whispering the name of a political strongman. The head of a national level party just sending a not so veiled message to a political opponent.?!!!

It must be emphasized that in all fairness such issues should not be kept simmering indefinitely. If there be no conclusive evidence, the government of the day ( the BJP led govt now) should give it a closure. It should not be raked up again for a hit job during the next election season.

Independent India’s first official scam was the Jeep scam. Krishna Menon, High Commissioner to UK, bypassed protocol in 1948 and ordered around 2,000 refurbished jeeps from a little known foreign company for our military use. A substantial amount of the then ₹ 80 lakhs deal was paid upfront. Only 155 jeeps were delivered but did not pass the Defence Ministry tests. Pandit Nehru’s patronage ensured that even the judicial inquiry was dropped in 1955. In Jan 1956, Mr Menon became a member of the Union Cabinet ending with his glory days as Defence Minister in the disastrous Indo-China war of 1962.

1957- The Mundhra scam. The Calcutta industrialist was given ₹ 1.26 crores from the LIC to bail out his six troubled companies, without the approval of the LIC investment board. Further, Mr Mundhra had just had a forged shares episode in 1956. Government pressure prevailed. Till one Mr Feroze Gandhi, MP, raised the issue in the Lok Sabha.  A one man inquiry committee in MC Chagla was appointed and he submitted his report in only 24 days (he was later one of India’s best External Affairs Ministers).  TT Krishnamachari had to resign as the Finance Minister and Mundhra was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment.  Feroze Gandhi had hit a home run. He was the son-in-law of PM Nehru. Their rift continued to grow.

The Nagarvala case of 1971 gets curioser and curioser. He called up Mr Malhotra, Manager, SBI, in presumably Mrs Gandhi’s voice asking for Rs 60 lakhs for a mission of national importance. He got the money!! and disappeared for all of a day. On 22nd May he was picked up at the airport. On the 26th May 1971 after a day’s trial and a confession he was sentenced to 4 years in jail. He died a few months later. So did the police officer assigned to the matter- in a road accident! Was Nagarvala an ex-RAW agent and a fraudster or simply a courier with things going awry? As the Mitrokhin papers have revealed India had been infiltrated by the KGB by this time. Ministers, bureaucrats, journalists, professors did their bidding. Or were these secret funds for a geo-political purpose?

On the late night hours of the 2nd December 1984, the ghastly Bhopal Gas tragedy happened. Lethal gas leak from the Union Carbide plant. 20,000 died. Lakhs more developed severe health complications. On December 7th 1984, their CEO Warren Anderson was quietly airlifted from Bhopal to Delhi at the orders of the CM.  Mr Rajiv Gandhi, the PM, allowed him a free pass to the USA. It is speculated that this was done as a quid-pro-quo for a US Presidential pardon for Adil Sharyar, a close friend of the Gandhis, who had a long prison sentence ahead. Finally in 1989 the Supreme Court ordered a $470 million compensation. One of the legal eagles consulted by Union Carbide – Mr Arun Jaitley.

In 1982, there had been the HDW submarine $300 million deal with the West German Company. Fat commissions and middle-men were involved. 6 people including the Secretary in the Defence Ministry and Mr GP Hinduja, industrialist in London were under the scanner. VP Singh later said that he resigned as Defence Minister in 1987 because of this corrupt arrangement. No money trail. No closure. No notable convictions.  Just political capital for VP Singh, Mr Clean, as he became the PM in 1989.

This was also the fall-out of the famous Bofors scandal in 1987 when a Swedish whistle-blower exposed the money sleaze in this ₹ 1,500 crs contract for 410 field howitzer guns. The middleman was Ottavio Quattrochi, an Italian citizen, said to be close to India’s first family. But again a lot of noise and confusion signifying nothing. The CBI botched up everything- delaying lodging the FIR, dragging their feet on the Interpol Red Corner notice, de-freezing Quatrocchi London bank account, shoddy extradition follow-ups…Sounds very familiar doesn’t it?

After the Mumbai bomb blasts in 1993, the then CM added one location to the 12 actually impacted by the blasts. He said that he did this to avoid a communal conflagration by fictitiously bringing in a minority dominated locality into the picture. His presence of mind was lauded by some in the media and also by the SriKrishna commission. The CM also repeatedly stated that the LTTE may be behind the blasts. But was this an attempt to deflect attention from Pakistan and Dawood Ibrahim. The Vohra Committee was appointed in July 1993 and gave its 100+ page findings by October 1993. Some in the know say that it contains explosive revelations of the nexus between senior Maharashtra politicians and babus and D company. The report has never seen the light of the day and the Home Ministry now says that it has been misplaced. Connect the dots. A sense of dejavu.  Almost 30 years later we are again talking about the same underworld links. If only the Vohra Committee report had been tabled and discussed responsibly and in the national interests.

The 26/11 attacks have been categorically tracked back to Pakistan and the ISI by the Indian intelligence agencies under the UPA regime and fully corroborated by the international intelligence community. But Digvijay Singh and Mahesh Bhatt presided at the launch of the book ‘26/11- A RSS Conspiracy” in December 2010. The former to please his political masters in Delhi as a loyal courtier and to counter the growing threat of the BJP. The latter’s son Rahul hobnobbed and moved around with David Coleman Headley, the ISI agent and mastermind for almost a year- a recce of all the spots where the terror attacks took place. A rattled and fragmented Indian government gave this B town scion a surprisingly easy pass. It did not matter that innocent foreigners and Indians, hotel staff and police had been brutally killed in a terror attack managed from Karachi. In 2020 also, these insidious elements and manipulators who have hollowed out India into a soft country, continue to thrive. If only it were not so disgraceful, it could have been shrugged off as ridiculous.

In 2009, Ramalinga Raju admitted to a ₹ 14,000 crore fraud. Falsifying accounts, inflating company revenues, raising false invoices, diverting money to real-estate. He was fined ₹ 5 crore and finally sentenced to 7 years in jail. In 2011 itself, he was on bail as the CBI had still failed to file a charge-sheet. He has done a total time of just 35 months and is now involved with his family’s successful health-care and agri businesses. Not even a slap on the wrist. The rich and the connected are above the law.

The Sahara scam of ₹ 24000 crore is well known in the public domain. With full political backing Subrata Roy was going great guns in 2011 with 3 crore ( mostly fictitious) investors. From 2008 he had been raising money without complying to the Regulatory framework. SEBI stepped in and stood its ground and finally the Supreme Court brought him to book in 2014. But Sahara Shree has been enjoying regular parole since 2016 . After all, he has had such close associations with several big time politicians.

Breaking news is that civil courts in Hyderabad and Patna have granted an injunction restraining Netflix from airing its new web series Bad Boy Billionaire from the 2nd Sept 2020. Mr Raju and Mr Roy say that it is an invasion of privacy and tarnishes their good name. Holy Shit!!!

The Saradha Chit Fund rip-off in Bengal has also hit the headlines. A Ponzi cum Pyramid scheme where more than ₹ 20000 crore has been siphoned off from mainly 1.7 million lower income investors lured by the promise of high returns. In 2014, the Supreme Court had to order a CBI investigation as nothing was moving at the State level. Two TMC MP’s and one State Minister have been arrested. Sudipto Sen, the MD, turned out to be a former Naxalite who had undergone a complete identity change. Recently, the high profile Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar has been grilled by the CBI for tampering with evidence to protect the accused and also some TMC politicians The West Bengal CM gallantly protected him from the Central investigators for as long as she could. Resonates with what is happening today in Maharashtra, what??

In 2002, a drunk Salman Khan is alleged to have killed one and injured 4 other pavement dwellers in a hit and run. Consider what happened afterwards. Singer and friend Kamaal Khan who was also in the vehicle catches the first flight back to London. But Ravindra Patil, the constable bodyguard sitting next to the star reports to the Bandra Police station that Salman was driving the vehicle in a drunken state. This police eye-witness, officially assigned, is repeatedly threatened and driven into hiding. He misses 5 hearings and the police issue a non-bailable warrant against their own. He is even thrown into jail. His testimony is dismissed as not reliable. The broken guy, without a job, dies in 2007, an alcoholic and TB patient. The powerful can get away with just about anything. The much-vaunted Mumbai police had started showing its true colours many years back.

The 2017 Unnao (UP) gang rape case starkly shows the criminalization of politics. At the centre, the BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, touted as the Bahubali in these parts.!! The 17 year old victim tried to immolate herself in front of the CM’s residence in April 2018. Thankfully, the media and the activists jumped into the fray.But the Supreme Court and the CBI had to step in for this hardened criminal to be sentenced for life behind bars in Dec 2019.In this shameful case, the father of the victim was wrongfully accused of being the perpetrator and died in judicial custody. In another sinister incident in July 2019 a truck rammed into a car causing serious injury to the victim and the death of two of her relatives.Eerily reminiscent of the movie-‘ Article 15’. Outrageously, the BJP continued to support the goon till the shit hit the ceiling.

Just 2 small rotten nuggets to add to this unpalatable fare being served. For the list is long and growing. The Harshad Mehta stock-market scam, Coalgate, Irrigation Ghotala (scam) , DHFL collapse, ICICI Bank-Videocon corrupt deals, the Nirav Modi super swindle…The $2 billion dollar diamond fraudster runs away from the country in Jan 2018 under the watch of the BJP led Centre. Taking the cue from the ‘King of Good Times.’ Vijay Mallya, an independent Rajya Sabha MP with friends across the political spectrum, coolly chatted with them on the 1st March 2016. The next day, this defaulter of ₹ 9000 crore from 17 Indian banks flees to London. Have the authorities been napping at the wheel? Or well-wishers told him to move on? Take your pick.

A few days back we all celebrated Teacher’s day – the birthday of our second President Dr Radhakrishnan. His mentee for Doctorate, Jadunath Sinha filed a case against him in the Calcutta High court in 1929. For infringement of copyrights and plagiarism from his published and thesis material for the Professor’s books. The case was settled out of court three years later. Radhakrishnan was a close of friend of Mr Nehru and his left leanings endeared him further to the PM. Hence, Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Vice President and President of the Republic in 1962. The first Teacher’s day was commemorated that year. We should move it to the 15th October every year as homage to Dr Abdul Kalam, our only great President.

Corruption, Inefficiency and Cabalism hurts the poor and the middle-class the most. 70+ years after independence we have to shed our feudal regard for politicians and bureaucrats. Not foolishly adulate some as modern day Chanakyas. We have to demand accountability. Performance. Delivery on promises. They are counting on our short public memory span. Divide and Rule still works for them. Manipulating and distracting is their modus operandi. And to paraphrase GB Shaw, “Politics is the first refuge of the scoundrel”. We have to stop joining them in kicking all these cans of worms off the roads and out of sight.

Use the power of genuine public activism and an effective social media to make things uncomfortable for these so-called leaders. Give them no place to hide. Persuade & Influence the Prime Minister to use his majority to push through these structural reforms before the end of 2021. Indeed, the NDA has been paying lip service for many years. (a) the police reform Act to make the force independent, autonomous and totally professional. Ditto for the Central Agencies.  (b) Make political financing transparent. (c) Keep criminals out of political positions.  (d) bring in one-third reservation for women at the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The States will have to follow suit. (e) Finally, strengthen and enable the judiciary that critical cases are fast-tracked over a few months. Justice has to be seen to be fair and impartial with nobody above the law. Justice has not only to be done but also seen to be done.

The True Power of Sport

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Photo by Antonino Visalli on Unsplash

25th June 1983. As the midnight hour struck, half of Ahmedabad was on the streets. My friends and I must have walked across the city for a good four hours- but with a spring in our steps and joy in our hearts. We soaked in the bonhomie and the festive atmosphere. The street vendors were running out of their delicacies. There was a hunger for more, as Indians savoured a famous victory. Thousands of miles away, Kapil Dev had lifted the Cricket World Cup at the hallowed Lord’s ground, sending much of urban India into delirious celebrations. We could do it! We had beaten the colonial masters on their own turf in the semi-finals and had triumphed over the great West Indies team in the finals. 36 years after independence we were still finding our own identity and confidence as a country and Kapil’s Devils had played a seminal role in a nation’s awakening.

June 1995. The Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Let’s listen to President Nelson Mandela, “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite the people as little else has…It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers.” He should know. It was the genius of Madiba to use the 1995 World Cup as a strategic instrument to reconcile the blacks and whites, and bring peace to a country fractured by five decades of apartheid. Just 5 years earlier when Mandela was released from prison the country seemed to be on the verge of a civil war. Springboks, the national rugby team was for long a hated symbol of white supremacist rule. The African National Congress would have liked nothing better than to marginalise the sport- a passion for white Afrikaners. But when Francois Piennar’s team defied odds to beat the seemingly invincible New Zealand All Blacks in the finals, it became the game that healed and united the Rainbow Nation. This was beautifully captured in the movie ‘Invictus’.

Civil War had been raging in the Ivory Coast for 5 years. Enter Didier Drogba, Chelsea star and Ivory Coast forward and the most famous man in the country. After helping the West African country to qualify for the 2006 World Cup the footballer went down on his knees in the dressing room. Surrounded by his teammates on live television, he begged both the warring factions to lay down their arms. Within a week his fervent appeal was heard and a ceasefire worked out. By 2007 Drogba’s call for peace had become a reality.

On the podium after the 200 mtrs finals at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised a black gloved fist as the US anthem was played. This black power salute was to highlight the racial discrimination and abuses faced by their community back home. They also did not wear shoes to show the poverty and neglect of African Americans. This created headlines around the world. As Smith later said, “We had to be seen because we couldn’t be heard.”

A year earlier the most famous athlete on the planet, Muhammad Ali, had refused to enlist in the brutal war in Vietnam. “Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them- Viet Cong.” As for going to jail he shrugged it off with, “We ‘ve been in jail for 400 years.” Such acts of defiance not only gave momentum to the Civil Rights struggle but also gave a fillip to the anti-war movement gaining ground in the USA.

Sport is a major force in shaping social consciousness and change. In India till the early 90’s the national cricket team was synonymous with the metros- Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore and Madras. Now the second tier and small towns have stepped up to the crease. Ranchi, Shrirampur, Agra,Roorkee, Vadodara, Amroha are all home-towns of well-known India cricketers, some of the Men in Blue.

Adivasis and tribals, forgotten people for centuries, are now being swept into the mainstream through sports academies and disciplines like hockey and archery. Limba Ram a poor tribal and then Padmi Shri awardee from Rajasthan became a breakout star archer in the early ‘90s. Some of our celebrated hockey players also hail from such alienated and exploited communities.

The Phogat sisters from the deeply masochist and conservative Haryana upended all social norms by winning international medals- in wrestling of all sports. They have become the inspiration for many young girls in the region. Driven by their father Mahavir Phogat their story has been well narrated in ‘Dangal’.

The fabulous Mary Kom has brought the beautiful North East into the national consciousness through her boxing feats. PV Sindhu, the 2019 World badminton champion is not only an inspiration to millions of youngsters but has gate-crashed into the exclusive preserve of a few top cricketers as a media celebrity in her own right.

Across the seas, the inner cities in the UK, France, Italy or the US suffer the plague of unemployment, lack of opportunities and crime. Sport plays a key role in reducing crime. It removes young men, the main perpetrators of random crime, from the streets. Kicking a football or shooting the hoop gives the embittered young to experience a sense of achievement as well as an outlet for their frustrations. It provides a positive channel for their restless energy. In India also it has been harnessed to good effect like the heartening ‘Bridges of Sport’ initiative of Akhilesh in the city of Nagpur, which led to India being represented in the 2010 Homeless World Cup.

Then there is the fairy-tale appeal of sports. Mark Edmundson was ranked 212th in the world in 1976 when he won the Australian tennis Open. He also worked as a window cleaner and floor polisher at a hospital to make ends meet. His modest take on becoming the champion, “I knew the game of the top seeds, but they had not seen mine.”

The Brian Clough managed Nottingham Forest were a football team’ of outcasts and strays’ who made people believe in miracles in the 1977-78 seasons. Not only did they lift the First Division title but also the European Cup. Leicester City too in 2016 put a smile on millions of faces by doing the impossible- lifting the Premier League title.

Muhammad Ali’s ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in Zaire in 1974 was one such story. The menacing George Foreman, with a fetish for KO’s, was in prime form. Ali at 32 in decline and many worried about whether he would survive the punishment. The rest is history. The stuff of sporting legends.

Yes, the sporting world has seen its scandals and shown its dark-side from time to time. Ben Johnson and Marion Jones have been outed as drug cheats. The former Soviet bloc countries have been tainted with state sponsored doping. Many baseball stars in the US came under the cloud for using performance enhancing drugs. Lance Armstrong has been stripped of all his Tour de France titles. On a lighter side, his best-selling auto- biography ‘It’s All about the Bike” is now to be found in the Fiction section of bookstores and libraries.

The football and cricket worlds were especially rocked by the match fixing and spot-fixing sagas. The Italian League came into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons and some top teams had to be black-listed. Even the gentleman’s game fought to regain its credibility but it was shocking to see the skeletons tumbling out of the cupboard. The reputations of powerful bodies like FIFA and BCCI have been sullied and tarnished. Exposes have revealed that top FIFA officials were even bribed to allot the World Cup to certain interested nations. There was even a concerted effort to legalise cricket betting in India. After all, it is a huge shadowy business.

Despite all this, the reach and influence of Sports continues to grow. The 2008 Beijing Olympics was watched by an estimated audience of 4.7 billion people over 16 days.  The 2018 Football World Cup final in Russia had an audience of 1.1 billion.

And what about the life lessons and management lessons which playing and watching sports can teach us? Tuning into or reading about Alex Ferguson, Brian Clough, Johann Cyruff, Mike Brearley, Frank Worrell, Phil Jackson and Francois Piennar provides a masterclass in leadership and people skills. Team-work, collaboration, motivation, communication, focus, hard-work and practice, dealing with failure, experimentation, risk-taking, analytics… the entire gamut of things.

In 2018, the world was captivated by the story of the Thai Cave rescue. 13  junior football team players and their 25 year old Assistant Coach were trapped for 18 days in a cave labyrinth after severe monsoon flooding. Let’s listen to a Thai psychiatrist who treated them at the hospital after their miraculous rescue, “One of the major reasons for everyone surviving is that they are part of this football team. They care and look out for each other. Lot of love and respect for their coach. They listen to him.”

No wonder Sport speaks a universal language, and carries the great power to change things for the good.