The auction for the third edition of the Indian Premier League began and ended on 19th January in Mumbai, India. At the start of the auction, there was anticipation, excitement, and restlessness about the highest bids and the most popular players. At the end of the auction, the one fact that escaped no one's attention was that not even a single player from Pakistan had been bid for.
Politics had one again influenced sport. Despite claims to the contrary, it was obvious to all that the Pakistani players had been snubbed as a result of increasing strained diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan. Cricket is not the only sport to be affected by the interdependence of politics and sport. Soccer is another sport that has seen innumerable examples of politics intertwining with sport.
The complicated relationship between the French and the Algerians is one example where the sport has been responsible in equal measure for instigating diplomatic tension between the two nations and also having a uniting influence. When the Algerian team secretly recruited French-based Algerian players into the national team in 1958, it led to diplomatic tension between the two nations but also led to international recognition of the Algerian struggle for independence. More recently, French soccer has consistently included multicultural recruits in its teams, but the political motivations of its players have led to controversy.
A case in point is Zinedine Zidane. A French-born player of Algerian descent who stepped into the international spotlight while playing for the French national team, his contribution to France's first world cup championship in 1998 led to such lofty but nevertheless ideas as "two flags, reconciled". The IPL incident is not the first incident of politics influencing sport, and neither will it be the last.
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