Sports have the means to unite and bring
happiness to the audience.
Sports have the power to bring
laughter and joy to us.
Sports have the influence to make
us sad
and angry.
Sports have social impact and get people to discuss an event for months to
come.
This week, two simple pieces of news were reported that
have deep and significant sports connections.
First we
read and heard that Iran’s Football Federation (IFF)
will have the national team members, coaches and football
authorities to visit the families
of the seven fans died in Azadi Stadium some 60+ days ago.
Second, we read
and heard that depending on the source, anywhere between
10 – 50
women gathered in front of Shiroodi Stadium (formerly known as Amjadieh)
and expressed their interest and desire to attend sporting events.
I read
these two news reports with a great deal of interest.
Azadi Tragedy
On the first report,
for over two months I have been amazed and extremely disappointed
with our national team players and coaches
who have
not yet visited the families of the seven fans who died following the
game against Japan.
How could our national team heroes turn
their heads away from such tragedy and act as nothing had
happened and
not even visit the families of those
died out of respect?
The fact that it takes IFF to announce
players would visit, or would have to visit, is disappointing
yet
I am pleased to see such event
is finally
taking
place. …Even though it is two months late.
For 2 months, the world’s sports media
paid attention to the tragedy following Iran – Japan
match.
For over 2 months, several Iranian sports
media didn’t let the
issue die and kept the tragedy in their editorials and sports
pages.
Surprisingly, outside of Mr. Zahab in
his nightly sports show, IranKicks.com and a few other
sports internet sites,
many other
sites chose to
treat the event as a simple news and ignored the aftermath.
“Better Late Than Never” is what I feel
about IFF’s decision to visit the families.
I wish though our players had done this simple act of human
respect on their own many weeks ago.
Lost lives don't come back with simple gestures of good
wills but deep wounds would heel a bit with the act
of sympathy
and not ignorance
and
apathy.
Women in Azadi Once again, while
Iranian media inside Iran have discussed this issue regularly,
other
than Mr.
Zahab’s show, Irankicks.com and a few others, many
chose to keep their heads stuck in the sand and pretend
this issue is non-existent and didn’t
matter.
The gathering of the few dozens women
in front of the Shiroodi Stadium was and still is an amazing
and courageous
act
by these women. These
are baby
steps toward getting women allowed to attend sporting
events.
Last Words In our complex society,
the above two news events may not be of interest to many.
In
the context
of
our society and
in particular
our
big sports enthusiast family, they both matter
and are of great value.
Iran will play two crucial games
of football in early June and shall be victorious on
the field.
Baby steps
in advancing
our
treatment of each
other off the
field would make us a better and more respectable
society.
Although it is late, it is better to be late
than stay silent.
Two
Simple Events – One Complex Paradox