Yesterday I witnessed my second ever live cricket match, and while excited about seeing two great cricketing teams, disappointed by the attitudes and the disgrace that Pakistani fans show toward the sport and the team.
There are videos on youtube that show dozens of Pakistani “fans” shouting and mocking the Pakistani team as they entered the dressing room. There was even an instance where an individual called coach John Lawson an “Aussie criminal” among other racist comments. Eventually the Canadian police came and threatened to put anyone misbehaving or causing problems to be put in jail.
During the game, there were countless number of incidents in the Pakistani crowd of fighting, verbal and physical abuse. While everyone is upset with the Pakistani loss, we all fail to remain in the spirit of this great game. The Pakistani cricket team were visibly upset at the reaction of the crowd, despite a very decent effort on the field. What people failed to understand that they were outclassed and under talented to beat one of the top sides in the world currently. Still, they managed to put up a great fight. It is a great displeasure to see numerous Pakistanis and even some Indians who attended this game who continuously mocked the Pakistani team throughout the tournament. If you are not there to support the team, then why do you show up. It is one thing to be upset and show displeasure at the team, but its another to get personal (jokes about player’s moms, the way they look, their names and so forth). This is outright immature and not needed. There were even instances in the first Pakistani game against Sri Lanka of debree throwing at players after a missed catch or a misfield. This is something seen in Pakistan and India and even that has stopped recently, but yet in a civilized country like Canada, this happens. We should take example from other Canadians who support teams in Canada (for example, the hockey team in toronto) regardless of how poorly they perform. While I think the Pakistani team can improve and has issues, I do not agree with the type of attitude and what happened this weekend in Toronto.
Re: Pakistani fans - A disgrace to the cricket world
I was at the game on Saturday and Monday. Some of the so called 'fans' were pathetic on Monday. I didn't notice anything odd on Saturday. I do think that the stadium being overcrowded contributed to the fights. Also, there should be a separate area for rowdy spectators (especially those who refuse to sit down). Overall, it was better than I expected and can't wait for next time :-)))))
Re: Pakistani fans - A disgrace to the cricket world
I forgot to add that 150 would have been a competitive total in the Final AND that despite all that, if Shoaib Ahkhtar would have bowled better...it would have been a different game :-(
Re: Pakistani fans - A disgrace to the cricket world
been there, seen that!
Although act of some crazy fans near Dressing Room (mocking, verbal abuse etc) was pathetic but did you even count them? they were 20-25 out of at least 5000+ Pakistani fans. You can't call all Pakistani fans a disgrace.
Ad far as fighting within the crowd is concerned, that happens in all games in every part of the world. You will see Gora, Kala, Arbi, Ajmi fighting with each other in any high profile sporting event where you have thousands of people. I am not supporting their act but what I am saying dont single out "Pakistani Fans".
Yesterday 2 fights broke out ONLY becasue 5-6 of body builder type SL fans (knowingly) decided to take seats in middle of 5000+ Pakistani fans and off course heated exchange took place. While no one can support the act but once again you can single out Pakistani Fans.
Just go to you tube and search for sports fight or something smiler to that...welcome to sporting world!
Re: Pakistani fans - A disgrace to the cricket world
I dont know abt canadian crowd ...... but crowd here in Pakistan .... arent tht junglee ..
may b cuz of the fact ... tht we have seen our team loose so many times .. tht it doesnt matter nemore :p
I am not saying that this is all Pakistani fans, but there were many in the crowd that were acting the same way. The ones outside the dressing room may have been 25 to 30, but I am sure you would not have seen the same from Sri Lankans had they lost. While I agree that this happens around the world in the sport world, sledging is something that needs to be removed from this game, especially if its the team that you are apparently there to support! I am a Pakistani fan and as much as I was upset along with the several that were in our group, we did not create what I thought was a disgrace. This is Canada and it simply does not happen in this part of the world, whether you're talking about hockey, basketball, baseball or any other "high-profile" event. Those Pakistanis, be it a smaller perecentage need to respect the game and respect the team. I was suprised they werent burning photos of pakistani players outside the stadium, because that is certainly the mindset that these "fans" have
Re: Pakistani fans - A disgrace to the cricket world
I tend to agree with D6C... although I didn't go to the games this time around... I've gone for a few Sahara Cup games back in the late 90s... and the games were much more high profile than they were in this tournament (featuring Pakistan and India). We used to have fans of all types - some rowdy and utterly disrespectful... others more calm and just there to support their teams irrespective of the end result. You can't generalize the entire fan base based on the behavior of a segment.