Because they said so!

With posting on social forums in recent years becoming the most sought-after activity for many; it was only imminent that sportsmen and women would also jump onto the tweeting and posting bandwagon.

Not only they would keep their followers enlightened with their routine but also ensure to keep their stardom value in check. However, this opened the way for more and more deleted tweets, edited Facebook posts and ‘by-mistake’ Instagram shares cropping up in recent years, marring the careers of many players or becoming a cause of concern for their respective sporting bodies.

Even the erased digital footprints from previous decades can come back to haunt a person at any time. Whether it is racism, feminism, gender discrimination or an issue of national sovereignty, the drawback of social forums is that it keeps a record of your comments and it is at the disposal of the general public all the time, searching at the click of the button.

The recent examples of how a rising star Ollie Robinson, after having an outstanding debut for England in Test cricket, was made to sit out in the second match of the series and his career.

The reason was his racist, sexist and offensive tweets from seven years back that resurfaced during the first Test. He was fined and handed a suspension for eight matches.

The weightage of controversial text is such that it was enough to bring down curtains on the international career of a prolific English batter Kevin Pietersen who became the casualty of the Text-Gate scandal. The scandal, dampening the morale of English cricket back then, involved captain Andrew Strauss and the players from the visiting South African team back in 2012.

While it should only be the performance of the players on the ground that should make the game memorable; sometimes it’s their interesting comments — uttered unknowingly or deliberately — which become etched in the Sport’s history!

In the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics 2020, USA’s Women 400m hurdle runner Sydney McLaughlin, after winning the Gold medal, acknowledged her long-time rival and fellow American Dalilah Muhammad.

She stated that rivalry on the track helped her in a push to break the World Record, clocking at 51.46 seconds. They continue to set record after record over different tournaments and races in the last few years.

As put by McLaughlin, ‘Iron sharpens iron!’ the words justified how their performance pinnacled during the race. ‘It’s just two athletes wanting to be their best and knowing there is another great girl who is going to get you there’ she concluded.

Not everyone is celebrated for their words, sometimes, even when you are a celebrity and a World-renowned heartthrob. When our very own Imran Khan, out of his retirement, won the 1992 World Cup title, utilizing the raw talent of a young team to a great effect, it was his words at the closing ceremony of the final that would echo in the minds of a generation for decades.

However, even that was not without controversy of sorts as he used an ‘I’ instead of a ‘we’, that too maybe when it mattered the most. His remark at one of the greatest stages that ‘I feel very proud that in the twilight of my career finally I have managed to win the World Cup’ somehow, did not sit well with many. He, himself, regretted the omission of his teammates later.

Another statement that reminisces from the 1999 World Cup is ‘You have dropped the World Cup!’ by then Australia captain Steve Waugh to South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs when the latter dropped a sitter.

Waugh, however, denied saying that and considered it to be a made-up statement by the media. Australia eventually won the World Cup and began their purple patch for many years to come.

Not in the good taste though was ‘I want to eat his children’ by Mike Tyson to Lennox Lewis in 2000. That remark from the heavy-weight icon of his era was repeated recently.

In even more bitter taste and after a series of hostile, deleted tweets for his deceased father by MMA fighter Conor McGregor against Russia’s Khabib Nurmagomedov, who continued to remain undefeated in the sports, the Irish combatant posted another tweet ‘Covid is good and father is evil?’ after the death of his opponent’s father. That surely was disgusted in every sense.

In the context of the Falkland wars and just before the world witnessed the Goal of the Century scored by Argentina’s Diego Maradona, himself; there was a goal scored by the great against England, back in the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

It was very clear that he used his left hand fist which, somehow, evaded the sight of the referee and the linesman, much to the protest of Englishmen; it was declared a legitimate goal. Argentina won the match with Maradona famously quoting that the ‘Goal was scored a little with his head, and a little with the hand of God!”

Renowned for his verbal jabs and ironically nicknamed Louisville Lip, the great Muhammad Ali’s catchphrase ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ was one of his many intense, inspirational and thought-provoking quotes.

His words, sarcasm and how he uttered them would make content for the headlines. The ones involving the war with Vietnam and the treatment of the coloured race got him into trouble.

Controversial statements or statements by otherwise controversial sporting figures generate maximum TPR and this becomes the impetus for broadcasters and media houses to seek such comments.

Whether it is ‘Abay Kaalay!’ by the, then Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed to South Africa’s all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo during a match or a mere ‘Agua!’ by Christiano Ronaldo promoting water while removing the two soft drink bottles in front of him and with it bringing down the share price of the brand; what they said is likely to matter a lot, primarily because they said so!

The writer is a physician, healthcare leader, traveller and a YouTuber host for the DocTree Team promoting Organic Gardening in Pakistan. He tweets @Ali_Shahid82