It is now
irrefutable: No game is more corrupt than cricket. Or more
corrupting, or more amoral, or more afoul of the law. Or course no
game throws more cash around. Which proves yet again that money is
the root of all evil.
We may have
individual preferences as to the degree of sleaze and vulgarity
attached to the scandals of recent days. Who was the nastier spoilt
brat, Shahrukh Khan who berated hapless security personnel or
Siddharth Mallya, whose normal language seems to be of the filthy
kind? Were the Income Tax searches on some IPL owners' premises more
belittling than the match-fixing deals in which some players were
caught? Was the rave party with cocaine and other drugs in Mumbai a
bigger breach of the law than the five-star punching of a
fiance-boyfriend in Delhi? Was Subramaniam Swamy's allegation that
IPL promoted black money and prostitution more shameful than BCCI
buying the silence of former players with bonus cheques while
pointedly leaving out players turned critics?
Make your
pick. But no one can deny that cricket as it is managed and played
today brings disgrace to India, turns players into pawns in the hands
of swindlers, helps politicians to make politics out of sports and
allows millionaires to flout more rules, and make more money by
hook and by crook. Cricket has become anything but cricket.
The sting
operation that showed young players agreeing to fix the game in
return for money revealed the depths to which the culture of cricket
had sunk. And yet that was not the most frightening part of the
sting. Two other findings were. The first was that team owners paid
players more than the publicly stated price. What were these
under-the-counter payments except black money operations with all
their implications?
The BCCI
promptly suspended five players named in the sting operation. Big
deal. What about the black money operations which, given the size of
the auction figures and the large number of players, must run into
millions? And what about the second of the two frightening findings –
that women played an important role in match fixing negotiations?
If the BCCI
has initiated action over these findings, it is keeping it a secret.
Actually, the role of women should have been investigated as soon as
Lalit Modi started importing white-skinned “cheer leaders” for
IPL matches. Whose cheer were they leading? The question hit the roof
last year when Gabriella, a South African cheer leader, said in her
blog that a cheer leader was a “walking porn” and cricketeers
were full of “flirtateous, inappropriate” behaviour. Instead of
an inquiry and remedial action, Gabriella was sent home forthwith.
And this
year we have a whole new drama starring Zohal Hameed, Zahil Peerzada,
Luke the Unpronounceable and sundry extras. Zohal said Zahil was her
fiance, Zahil said Zohal was his girl friend, Sidhharth said Zohal
was all over him, Luke said he never did anything wrong, the next day
he said he accidentally touched Zohal. Everyone sufficiently
confused, everyone was happy.
Again,
nobody looked into issues beyond whether Luke assaulted Zahil who was
hospitalised. Who really were these Zohal and Zahil? We know Zohal
was a New York girl with an Afghan father and an Iranian mother. But
we also know – because she said so – that she did not know what
was cricket and IPL and never watched a match and was not really
interested.
So what was
she doing in Delhi amid cricketing VIPs? Is it true that a team owner
had brought her to India for the current season? What was her role?
Is she rich enough on her own to live in a suite in one of Delhi's
most expensive hotels and go around the city in a white Mercedes? How
could she be “all over” a tycoon who is unapproachable by
ordinary folk? We will never know the answers because cricket is
manipulated by India's wiliest politicians and wealthiest barons.
They are above even the laws of decency.