A night when football is the real loser

Shamveel (blue) playing against Victory in FA Cup 2007

As soon as the names were announced the entire hall descended into an eerie uneasiness and awkwardness. There was a collective pang of disbelief and shock on the face of gathered crowd. The dreaded verdict, like the FAM awards, is the delayed inevitable of what was long in coming. Because the cast was the same and the shows biggest star, as perceived by many, was missing from the credit list.

For it has been just revealed a player who had had his best performance in the season 2007 was just not among the nominations, rightly deserved of a tireless worker in the eyes of many football fraternity. More so when his fellow compatriots had the same name on their lips – because the verdict was unanimous and the name was Shamveel Gasim of New Radiant. But the footballer from Addu not only missed out on the coveted prize but shockingly wouldn’t make it to the list of best three nominees.

Predictably enough there was no fanfare or visible show of excitements. There was no standing ovation for the winners no vocal applauds to the award recipients’ .The build up to the nervous frenzy to the most anticipated moments died down just like a sudden blackout, instantaneously. It looked as if a funeral procession had just begun; a dead silence intertwined with drone of buzz dominated the air. Even the nominees who were called up to stage had frustration written on the face. There was twinge of remorse and cluelessness writ large on the face of Ashfag. For he felt the real contender was somewhere out there in the in the audience shell-shocked, slumped in a chair.

This is the first time, since the daily newspaper Haveeru started doling out sports awards to sports personalities who excel in the field, has the most prestigious award assumed such a hue of controversies. It is not only in football but the second most popular sport Volley had the same fate. The reasons are many and varied. It became abundantly clear when there was a mass defection of footballers and volley ball players even before the last award had been announced.

For footballers the taste was bitter. Nobody thought Bonda who made it to third in the FAM award ceremony would miss out on an award from its more famous cousin. The recurring theme has always been Haveeru’s awards are highly impartial, so prestigious, somehow something all sports lovers love to hold in high regard. That they have an eminent panel of judges only accentuated the worthy cause of its integrity. Yet what happened on Friday night is nothing like that has been expected, though. Questions were put forth about credibility of the system employed to decide the winner.

Agreed, last season was a forgettable season of lackluster football. It was a year of frustration interspersed with unwanted distraction. It was boring. There was no pulse-quickening display of competitive football; the more famous players were mere spectators on the field. For Ali Umar , the player who received the best player award from world famous referee Pierluigi Collina ( now retired) for his incomparable performance in 2006 , was horrible; for his fans his tryst with destiny was all but bad luck. How fortune changes in a footballer’s career!

The truth is during a season when most of the most prominent players were anonymous where small team ruled and non-famous players caught the imagination there was only one man standing tall over the others. Just one a clear winner with Mukthar close second or third. Too many players had too many bad days in the office except best player of Dhivehi League Shamveel and Valencia’s skilful winger, the player of Cup winners Cup!

Bonda’s spirited performance in the middle of the park for New Radiant, remarkably in Dhivehi League, has been one of uplifting and at times sensational. The 10 goals he scored in his position as a ball supplier to the strikers is nothing less than brilliant. That many Blues fans and sports lover all over the country had his name for the best player even before the festive season of January began was the living proof a player worthy of acknowledgment. Yet in the eyes of judges and in their peculiar gradation of points Blues number 10 found that sometimes in life your performances don’t decide the awards but the awards decide the performer. No wonder he will feel cheated by the turn of events.

Yes, on this night of show piece event football is the real loser. The great mismatch between people’s and judges’ verdict has thrown up all short of controversies into the air, carrying with the tide the wounded egos and the credibility of the verdict in its wake. Now that there is bad blood brewing between these two parties it would indeed undermine the credibility of these awards and perhaps judges credentials as abled personals to deliver justice

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