|
|
|
June 29, 2006
Football dreaming
In this money orientated world, those sports which have the 'it' factor pay their players well and those which don't, end up being left out. An example is the attention paid to the Pakistan cricket team and the contrasting exposure given to the national hockey team , writes
Manizeh Syed Ali
The FIFA World Cup is finally here; the gathering of nations, spirit of sportsmanship, the pursuit of excellence and the sight and endless array of handsome men parading around; truly an event worth waiting for. But before that was the French Open, and then there is Wimbledon, yes this is going to be one brilliant summer and that too all in front of a television set! Where else does a girl get a chance to enjoy watching muscular men in shorts running around, sweating away and not be arrested or insulted for public indecency for doing so?
Yes I know all those sports’ purists out there must be shaking their heads in horror at my mocking the lofty reasons why sports are played and that what makes a sportsman a superstar is not his looks but his talent. But to all those sports snobs out there, all I have to say is welcome to the new world of global media, dollars and big advertisement campaigns, where the success of a player depends as much on his or her looks as it does on the amount of goals they score in a match.
This means that in this increasingly money orientated world, those sports which have the ‘it’ factor pay their players well and those which don’t, end up being left out. An example is the attention paid to the Pakistan cricket team and the contrasting amount of exposure given to the national hockey team.
When it comes to our boys on the cricket pitch everyone in Pakistan becomes an expert and reels off their details as if they know them personally! Everybody happens to know where the players come from, what their marital statuses are, how they play the game and so on. But ask anyone to name one member of the hockey team and there will be complete silence or merely words like “don’t like the game or find it boring.”
And why is this so even though hockey happens to be the national game of Pakistan? Well, it’s simple: cricket has become global media marketers’ dream and so teams are paid handsomely for their endorsements. But not all cricketers get their share in the lucrative advertisement kitty since it is the better looking players who get the best campaigns and are paid the most by the multinational corporations.
I remember a statement made couple of months ago by one member of the hapless Pakistani hockey team who had said that when they came back from India after winning a series, no one in the public or media even looked twice at them even though they had beaten the Indians quite comprehensively. On the other hand, when the Pakistani cricket team lost a single match against their Indian cricket opponents, the entire country went into a collective depressive slump and all sorts of questions were asked about them. I wonder what the players of the nearly forgotten game of Kabaddi have to say about endorsements!
My reasoning may sound highly superficial but in this world of instant celebrity, reality show universe it is looks that make the man. Talent is still the driving force but it is looks that can either make or break the player’s career as a superstar.
A large part of Imran Khan’s success as a cricket superstar was also due to him being handsome and arrogant which made him glamorous. These were the reasons for women from London to Landi Kotal to swoon over him! Let’s face it; if he did not have the movie star looks how many of us would have gotten up early in the morning in the `80s for the radio broadcasting Pakistan’s tours of Australia or New Zealand with Khan taking wickets? I can assure you with the exception of die-hard cricket fanatics not many.
There is, however, also a downside to all this media attention and big endorsement deals. Due to excessive exposure, a time comes when a player becomes more known for the attention he or she is gathering on the pages of magazines and less for their achievements on the playing fields.
An example of this is the British footballer David Beckham. Despite the fact that he has become regular tabloid fodder and his face is seen gracing billboards the world over, his initial brilliance as a footballer has not matched his recent performances. The danger with Beckham as with other big sports stars, who sign high-profile endorsement deals and then fail to deliver, is that in ten years time they will be more known for how many affairs they have had and how many cans of soft drink their faces have helped sell than for the goals or runs they have scored.
However, for the time being this scribe is not concerned with questions such as whether Raphael Nadal will just be a clay court wonder or when will Shahid Afridi actually make up his mind finally and retire; as these are for the future.
No, right now my mind is in Germany, my head is full of penalty corners and shoot-outs and my eyes are searching for my next football pin up. See you in Berlin on the 9th of July for the final!
|
|
|
|
