Don’t get me wrong. As a patriotic citizen of this country, I’m eternally grateful to our national team for bringing indescribable joy to our hearts, by beating India in the final of the SAAFF football tournament. It should be noted though, that, while we bath in this red-sea of euphoria, we shouldn’t lose the bigger picture!
First of all let’s ask ourselves the question, why the whole country seems to be uniting behind this victory while many of us are politically divided. The simple answer is that this victory for us has been like a feast at the end of a day of fasting. When you see food at the end of a day of fasting, you will naturally savor the food better. Dictator Gayyoom’s 30-year-long rule didn’t bring us any happiness of this scale. In fact we should be criticizing Gayyoom for depriving us for so long – not thanking him for this victory.
Gayyoom’s regime has miserably failed in promoting football in this country. Just as tourism developed due to the enterprising efforts of many private investors, football too developed mainly due to enthusiastic club owners and zealous football fans. This has very little to do with FAM’s vision or Gayyoom’s dedication to football.
Given this fact, it was surprising to see the national team run up to the old man, with the SAFF trophy, after winning the trophy at Colombo’s Sugathadasa Stadium. Many of the nearly eight thousand Maldivian supporters who packed the stadium and sacrificed their voices for the team were disappointed that the team did not come to the fans first. It wasn’t Gayyoom who scored the winning goal and this victory wasn’t based on the regime’s efforts to develop football. So, why, asked some supporters, did the team cozy up to the dictator and virtually dedicate the victory to Gayyoom.
Gayyoom’s lack of vision for the development of football was shown on Sunday upon the arrival of the national team. At the arrival ceremony a journalist asked Gayyoom how the government plans to use this victory as a springboard for further success. Gayyoom said that the most important thing would be for the people to unite behind the national team even in the future. He didn’t mention anything about creating a football academy / school for young boys or about building an international level football stadium or implementing a better inter-atoll football league. Gayyoom’s answer showed his lack of football knowledge and that he is obsessed with his political survival.
Gayyoom is using this victory to gain political capital. He said that he will make sure that the trophy is taken to each and every island in the country. Imagine the huge cost of taking the trophy to more than 200 islands! This is indeed a great victory for our country, but everything has a limit and it would be sad to see an old man who has used an iron-grip to rule over us for more than three decades use this sweet victory to gain his own political capital, while the unassuming citizens of this country gets carried away with the old man’s rhetoric.
As an ardent fan of Maldivian football and as someone who has opposed Gayyoom’s dictatorial rule for the past fifteen years or so, I would urge the people to use this victory to unite against Gayyoom’s dictatorial regime.
The motto of our national team in the SAFF Cup was “Mi ee Aharumenge Faharu” (This is our turn). A sarcastic fan told me that the next cup is the Riyaasee Cup (Presidential Cup). This is a tongue-in-the-cheek reference to the upcoming presidential election. I would say that our motto for this Riyaasee Cup should be “Mi ee Rayythunge Faharu” (This is the people’s turn). Indeed we shouldn’t let Gayyoom use this victory to shroud his shortcomings and his selfish ambitions to remain in power. We should use this victory to ushering a new era for the Maldives. An era in which we shouldn’t be just content with winning the SAFF championship; but look forward to winning even bigger things.
