"Handshake refusals, trophy politics and jingoism in Dubai show how their toxic rivalry threatens the game itself. There's hardly been a multilateral sports tournament in recent memory as steeped in warlike controversies as the 2025 Asia Cup in Dubai. The exclusion of Russia from the 2024 Olympics or the 2022 FIFA World Cup could be cited as examples, but those were decisions taken quietly behind closed doors by sporting authorities. This edition of the Asia Cup, however, turned out to be a very different affair."
"The three matches played between India and Pakistan were filled with theatrical displays of jingoism: hand gestures mimicking crashing fighter jets, refusals to offer the customary handshakes, clashes involving the match referee and what appeared to be a proxy war between the two cricket boards. This intensity is rooted in a long history. The two countries have fought several wars, and their cricketing ties have been deeply affected."
"The way this year's Asia Cup unfolded offered clear evidence of how cricket is being militarised, not by accident but as a deliberate performance to sustain a spectacle that generates billions of dollars. Despite being fined for making comments deemed political dedicating India's win to the victims of the Pahalgam attack and the Indian armed forces at a post-match news conference on September 14, India's captain, Suryakumar Yadav, made similar remarks"
The 2025 Asia Cup in Dubai featured overt jingoism, trophy politics and refusal of customary courtesies, transforming cricket matches into theatrical displays of rivalry. Matches between India and Pakistan included gestures mimicking fighter jets, handshake refusals, clashes involving referees and tense interactions between cricket boards. Longstanding geopolitical conflict and the 2008 Mumbai attacks have severely limited bilateral cricket, and past on-field neutrality has eroded. The tournament showed deliberate militarisation of the sport as a spectacle that drives large audiences and revenue. Players faced fines for political remarks and unsporting theatrics, underscoring the blending of politics and sport.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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