Picture this: Kaleemullah scoring an injury-time winner against India at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium in the semi-final of the SAFF Championship next year.

In the heat of the moment, the Pakistan national football team captain rips off his shirt as he runs in celebration and jubilates in front of a hostile crowd at the iconic venue.

Immediately after Pakistan’s victory, Indian media start flashing images of Kaleem’s celebrations describing them as ‘over-the-top’.

The striker has already received a yellow card — according to FIFA rules — for his troubles.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) appeals immediately to the SAFF Organising Committee to have Kaleem banned from the final for taunting the home fans during his celebrations.

The tournament director rejects their appeal and enraged by that snub, the Indians go to FIFA saying they won’t host the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup and cancel all bilateral matches with Pakistan unless world football’s governing body takes action.

Thank God, FIFA isn’t dependent on Indian money.

If football was being run by just money, the Emirati and Qatari owners of Manchester City and Paris St Germain would’ve been ruling world football.

Thank God for Financial Fairplay!

The latest show of Indian influence on the world of sport came on Sunday when two Pakistan players were banned hours before the Champions Trophy final for their elaborate celebrations after winning their semi-final against the hosts in Bhubaneswar a night before.

The celebrations were no doubt unsavoury, with a few players making lewd gestures to the crowd at the Kalinga Stadium.

The tournament director had let the players off after having a word with head-coach Shahnaz Sheikh, acknowledging the actions came in the heat of the moment after a high-voltage semi-final showdown.

But then came the threats from Hockey India (HI) chief Narinder Batra to the International Hockey Federation (FIH) that it would cancel the hosting of the FIH tournaments in the county — including the 2018 World Cup — if Pakistan weren’t punished and didn’t offer an unconditional apology.

The FIH reacted almost immediately to appease their Indian members.

Midfielder Mohammad Touseeq and reserve goalkeeper Ali Amjad were suspended from the final and Pakistan went on to lose 2-0 to Germany.

That said, Indian players didn’t even come under scrutiny despite their misbehaviour during their 2-1 defeat to Australia in the match for third place on Sunday.

“The Indians don’t accept their defeat … they don’t accept supremacy of the FIH either,” Olympian Hanif Khan, appearing as an expert on a private news channel, remarked.

“The FIH didn’t take action as there was nothing punishable but India forced FIH to ban our players just before the final.”

India organises the Premier Hockey League (PHL) — the richest event in the sport annually and so it’s only natural that FIH could be bowed down by Indian money.

On similar lines, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has become the gangster in international cricket, prompting the takeover of the International Cricket Council (ICC) by the ‘Big Three’.

That came after the Indian Premier League (IPL) was rubber-stamped as T20 cricket’s most lucrative event.

“There is no doubt that India is a major player in world sport,” former PCB chairman Najam Sethi, who accepted the ICC’s upheaval by the ‘Big Three’, said on his television show on Sunday night.

“We have to realise that India has the money and the necessary base to become the superpower of sport. We have to see what’s best for us and take it.”

India revolutionised the sport of Kabaddi by launching the Pro-Kabaddi League on the format of the franchise-based IPL earlier this year — an initiative that attracted global media.

The country also has a badminton league in the same format and India is one of four stops in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), which was launched this year.

Also launched this year was football’s Indian Super League (ISL) — another initiative that attracted global headlines but for now features largely semi-retired players and former stars.

The ISL was one of the reasons the AIFF was keen on delaying the launch of the SAFF Club Championship, a tournament that was supposed to be launched in 2010 but the lack of Indian support has meant it is yet to start.

Showing their power again?

“I intend to launch it in 2015 with or without India,” SAFF president Kazi Salahuddin told Dawn last month.

After the launch of the ISL FIFA chief Sepp Blatter, who famously dubbed India as the ‘sleeping giants’ of world football, said: “This [India] is another market for football, not a financial market, but another market to grow our sport.”

Thank God the financial aspect doesn’t concern FIFA. Thank God India remains a ‘sleeping giant.

Otherwise, football like other sports would become India’s moneyball.

Published in Dawn December 16th , 2014