Managing fan behaviour and exuberance

The series victory in cricket against India has taken our people on a joy ride that the country does not witness very often. Some were hoping for a total wash that was Pakistan's lot, but a victory is a victory. For a country that is often pictured abroad as one whose people are leaving in droves for unknown destinations in perilous conditions, this image of a happy people, carrying flags of Bangladesh to honour their victorious team, is indeed a pleasant departure from those dire and morbid scenes.  

I do not want to rain on this happy parade, nor do I want to undervalue this victorious moment. Our young men have proved that it is possible to ride the ladder of dizzying heights, if you have the will and determination. Defeating two of the most famous names in the world of international cricket is no mean achievement. We are all proud of this. I would like to, however, draw a line between displaying national pride in such victories and taking out victory parades, and disrespecting opponents either to vaunt the victory or ventilate other negative thoughts about them. This has happened before in the case of Pakistan and now again in the case of India. 

According to some media reports, some of the more enthusiastic fans went overboard in not only mocking the players of the other side, but also by giving vent to feelings against the opponents in ways that would be considered offensive. To chase a fan of the Indian team, who was apparently dressed in his country's national emblem and flag, is not cricket . Chants of joy cheer us, taunts just do the opposite. 

In sports, supporters of the two sides invariably fight each other, mostly with words and chants. This is normal. In some cases, such fights may lead to riots. In England, fans of football clubs often fight so much that the riot police has to be deployed to stop them. Soccer violence was identified and politicised in other countries as well, with security initiatives at European stadiums that included separating standing fans from the pitch, or from each other, with walls or fences.  

Fortunately for international cricket, we do not have to have such fences, because the fans of the national team always dominate the scene, with no room for opponents' support.  But what we do have is a raucous band of fans of the national team, who can get carried away by emotions. They react in a bipolar manner, carry the players on their shoulders when they win, but throw them down the gutters when they lose. 

The victory against Pakistan earlier, and now India, definitely puts the Bangladesh Cricket Team in a more favourable position among cricketing countries, but it also places a greater onus on the team to not only maintain the momentum but reach higher peaks. In the cricketing world, Bangladesh is a relatively new entrant, and it has miles to go before it acquires the level of respect that other mature teams have acquired over decades of experience in this game.  I leave it to our coaches and organisers to train our team to take them forward. They can and will, with training and more matches in their laps, be among the top five teams in the world. This will take time.

My concern is managing the exuberance of fans and training them on how to react appropriately, without causing embarrassment, and perhaps shame, to the team itself and the country at large. Outrage at failures of the team is understandable, but slurs and taunts at a team representing another country reveal a more complex problem. 

We are a small but sovereign nation, deserving equal treatment by others. The thought of being viewed as tiny and insignificant by others, riles our people to no end, and therefore, the nation goes berserk with joy on any occasion when the country achieves a win over a bigger and reputed competitor. It is beating the impossible; it is David against Goliath. Therefore, even a non-combative event such as sports gets politically charged when played with rivals who are bigger or stronger. 

Training a sports team to succeed or perform better is manageable, but training a crowd to behave is not within the domain of sports experts. This has to come from organisers of sports, from guidelines on acceptable behaviour and zero tolerance for using politically charged rhetoric or slander in sports. 

Is it actually doable?

The writer is a political analyst and commentator.