Why the Sports Page should be the Political Column

The Rajpal Abeynayake Column

If in civilisation, sport replaces war as the means of combat between nations, what could we make of times when war becomes sport - and sport becomes war? Zinadene Zidane's head butting of Italian Materazzi has become the image of the World football cup that will endure. So when Susanthika Jayasinghe kisses Damayathi Dharsha after defeating her in a 200 meter event, we know that beneath that expression of sportsmanship lies a volcano of rancour that could have erupted in the manner of the ugly scene of the Zidane head-butt.

But then, things become curiouser and curioser. Folks who cannot absolutely empathise with Zidane, being as he is the representative of a big arrogant white ex colonial European near-superpower, discover gradually in the spasmodic post match coverage that Zidane represented his country's underside.

He was a boy from a Parisian ghetto - an Algerian immigrant's son who made it good in the only way an immigrant's son possibly could in France, by kicking a football around. Almost as suddenly as we discover this fact about Zidane, we also discover that the French team is not French at all in the purest sense. All but one of the players is a son of immigrants, or is an immigrant himself.

This is France, where they burnt the houses of immigrant "scum" in the riots of last year that literally cast a pall over the Parisian suburbs from fires ignited by disgruntled rioters.

So it was, that those who loved to hate Zidane because he represented the arrogant ex colonial European superpower now came to see him as the wronged guy, whose sister and mamma had been insulted by the offending Materazzi..

All of this was granted by the world's news writers and sports analysts - until the rumour was floated that Materazzi might have called Zidane a terrorist. If that was the case - they were willing to forgive Zidane totally. The soccer World Cup had already been given to the Italians, and they couldn't recall it, but had Materazzi called Zidane a "terrorist" in the provocation that resulted in that celebrated head-butt, permanent media blight would have been cast upon the Italian victory.

It would have been said perhaps twenty years down the road even, that the Italian victory was disputed, and that the 2006 World Cup final was not a conclusive one due to the head-butt controversy.

Could you discern exactly where the politics leaves off and the sport begins?. The blitzkrieg over Lebanon had by last week been converted into a spectator sport in which all of the world's living rooms had been made into a global size Olympic stadium, and in a moment of sleepiness, I was almost waiting for a head-butt incident to happen. One particular part of Lebanon was reduced to rubble before my sleepy eyes while a running commentary drawled on incessantly. Did I hear the sounds of "Gooooalll!"? Some poetess said once that Bill Clinton was the first black President of America. This was never seen as the insult it was on the Blacks, and similarly, the moviemaking out of the Lebanon attacks on global TV, is not seen as the insult on the Lebanese people it is.

The Lebanese are being the subjects of the bloodsport of being bombed to kingdom come.

All the world's former colonisers - the Portuguese, the English, the French - were represented in the quarter final stages of the World cup at least, which meant that by the time the tournament meandered towards the finals, many watchers particularly in these parts of the world were hoping that Italy, being a Mediterranean state, would prevail over the might of the French.

Those who rooted for the Italians therefore, had been vindicated, they thought, when the big and bad Zidane had his head on the chest of the Italian Materazzi.

But when the post match pantomime unfolded, the story had turned tables. Zidane was the Barrio boy.

The racial slur had been on him - - and the Italians were the racists, and had come within a hair's breath of being branded as the team that lost the World Cup by default ... because it nearly transpired that Materrazzi had called Zidane a terrorist.

The whole of white Europe can countenance the world mother f--------, but not Terrorist.

This would bring us to the funny thing that happened in France on the French folks' way to the World cup finals. The ghetto scum who were decried as the ghouls that destroyed the French social fabric, found themselves glamorised, because these same boys played French football.

Nobody called them scum now, crinkly haired and dark as night though they were. Zidane and Co., were supposed to be happy about that; Zidane is said to have transported the slum boys of France into a walhalla of their dreams, by his wizardry with the football..

So maybe it's just as well that Zidane was the sudden recipient of a racial slur in the middle of extra time. He was jolted back to hard reality - it was like a punch in the face that knocked a man back from a stupor. Now, Zidane is chastened but edified also. Maybe Susanthika can do Dharsha a favour, and give her a knockout punch as well, after the next race they run. As long as she doesn't call her a terrorist.....