Money is a powerful spoiler

Nilratan Halder | Published: December 19, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

When Tamim Iqbal, captain of the Chittagong Vikings, complained that the franchiser of another team verbally abused him at the time of his protest against the delay over tossing and the start of the match between the two teams, one senses the power of money. Saddened, the dashing opener of the national cricket team then made the most important observation. He lamented that he might not have played with the Indian Premier League but he had the opportunity to see from close quarters as a player of one of the franchisees there how the owners many times richer than those of the Bangladesh Premier League behaved with players.
What prompted the franchiser of the opponent franchisee to delay the process is known. Because two of its foreign players could not arrive in time, the timing was not maintained. It is unimaginable in any version of cricket or other games of international standard to delay the match time on such a pretext. But money is not free from arrogance and hubris, so this could happen. What the tournament committee has done then and following the incident has not been published. Why?
Tamim was hundred per cent right in protesting the delay. A star batsman of the country, he does not deserve any derogatory comment for this, least of any verbal abuse. The start of the BPL cannot be said to have gone smoothly. Now sports lovers and the public in general would like to know what has been done about the unpleasant and unfortunate incident. One wonders if the exchange between the franchiser and a foreign player in the capacity of the Chittagong Vikings' captain had taken place!
Now that the tournament has come to a close with both the Chittagong Vikings and the Sylhet Super Stars making exit from the group stage, it is time to review matters such as this in order to maintain the dignity and sanctity of a sports event like this. A lot is involved with such a tournament particularly when the national and international players vie for the championship and in the process put their best in for public entertainment.Â Â Â Â
It is not just in this tournament of cricket that a bad taste will be felt in the mouth. In all other areas, the moneyed and the privileged behave in ways that they can do and undo anything and anyone below them particularly without much money. It is money that speaks for them. Talent, wisdom and scholarship count little for them. The first and foremost criterion to them is money, money and more money.
It is because of this, some of the moneyed men grab public property, land and take resort to all means -usually illegal -in order to maximise their business empires. They drive on the wrong side of the road, evade taxes and misbehave with people. The high and mighty could not care less. They think they can buy everything they desire.
What they are not aware of is that in this way the cultural construct suffers. A nation has got its first batch of rich people. Barring a few, the rest are simply upstarts who do not have a long tradition to back their status. No wonder arrogance of money gets expressed in myriad ways. It will take time to sink the feeling that possession of money is not all. There are other vocations where human qualities get best expressed. Intellect, art and aesthetic appreciation are some of the finer qualities that no money can buy.
Even sports talents are not commodities to be ordered for. They are icons who move the entire nation passionately and emotionally. They inspire youngsters to attempt even higher and thus a tradition goes underway. The nation should be grateful to their contributions. When the majority of the six billion or so people on this planet will leave no mark, players, musicians, artists, sculptors, writers, poets, philanthropists, scientists, inventors and the likes of them will continue to shine as long as human civilisation sustains. But people like Bill Gates with more money than others with a charitable mission driving them forward are humble in the service to the humanity. They too will be remembered with respect and gratitude.