Controversy seems to be the precedent of the IPL ever since its inception. This time around it’s an official ruling by the Tamil Nadu Government not to allow Sri Lankan players to play in Chennai. The IPL General Council also complied with the Government making it a dirtier twist to the already bad tale. There are boundaries which politics should not cross, sports being one of them.

Jayalalitha wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, making it clear that IPL matches would be permitted in the state only if there were no Sri Lankan players, umpires, officials or support staff. Later the IPL Governing Council met and decided that Sri Lankan players will not participate in matches in Chennai. Jalyalalitha justified her stand as an objection against the alleged human rights violations and killing of Tamilians in Sri Lanka. The presence of Sri Lankans in Chennai, she said would only “aggravate an already surcharged atmosphere.” The tournament has 13 Sri Lankan players; two of them are captains of their respective teams and also includes star players like Mahela Jayawardhane and Muttiah Muralitharan. Not too long ago the same happened to Pakistani players and franchises were not allowed to bid for any Pakistani player.

Ironically the Chennai Super Kings has two prominent Sri Lankan players, but the irony doesn’t end there. Kumara Sangakkara is the captain of Sun Risers, a team owned by the Marans, a political and business family from Tamil Nadu. Muttiah Muralitharan is a son-in- law of Chennai and is as Sri Lankan tamilian. Franchises that paid big money on stars have to bench key players which are a great loss for them.

Sports are a means of crossing borders, building bridges and bringing peace. But that doesn’t seem to be the case in IPL. It is disheartening to see that the Central government and a sports body like BCCI have acted as allies to the dirt plot. Unfortunately no one had the guts to stand up against it. Picking or dropping a player based on his racial or ethnic identity is hands down racial discrimination and violates the spirit of sports, both of which are serious offences to humanity and peaceful existence. What Jayalalitha has done only encouraged racism, divisive politics and complicated international relations.

Article Posted By : prajwal316  On August 30, 2013lView All Articles

Article Source :

http://www.veethi.com/articles/the-controversy-of-ipl-article-2665.htm

Keywords :
controversy , season 6