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By:

Uday K. Chakraborty

28 December 2024 at 3:27:38 pm

Dunya Goal Hai: Why the World Speaks Football

From the beaches of Brazil to the streets of Naples, football remains the one spectacle capable of uniting and dividing the globe like no other. Next week, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will kick off across North America, the largest edition of the tournament ever staged. Yet beneath the spectacle of 48 nations and packed stadiums lies a deeper truth: football remains the world's most powerful expression of national character, cultural identity and collective passion. It is impossible to measure...

Dunya Goal Hai: Why the World Speaks Football

From the beaches of Brazil to the streets of Naples, football remains the one spectacle capable of uniting and dividing the globe like no other. Next week, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will kick off across North America, the largest edition of the tournament ever staged. Yet beneath the spectacle of 48 nations and packed stadiums lies a deeper truth: football remains the world's most powerful expression of national character, cultural identity and collective passion. It is impossible to measure the importance of football to people in regions where for many it remains the only escape from life’s harshest realities. In Central America, countries have gone into war in its name. And, in an increasingly borderless Europe, it remains the only event to still stir strong nationalistic fervour. Starting 1930, so far only eight countries from these two continents could take the World Cup home - Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Germany, Spain, Uruguay, England and France. Cultural Nuances Wherever football has been introduced, it has developed its own style, absorbing and reflecting the cultural nuances and social influences of its host; and it is this intriguing contrast of styles that makes each World Cup such an occasion of expectations and excitement. For instance, everything about Brazilian football is different from that of English. When English lads find themselves with a football, they throw a couple of jumpers on the ground and start playing three-goals-and-in. When Brazilians have a kick about, they stand in a circle and play magic flicks. The ball goes from foot to head to heel to thigh. It never touches the ground: chest; knee; overhead flicks. It goes on for hours, this celebration of ball mastery. The difference in philosophy is profound. Nowhere is that contrast more apparent than in the way the game is approached in England, where it was first organized in to a league structure, and Italy, where it has reached its European peak in popularity and passion. Nowhere in the world is football’s attraction stronger than in Italy where football is the country’s whole life while in England it is still largely viewed by the authorities as “a game for gentlemen, played – and watched – by hooligans.” England is the originator of the game, but even today, it is viewed as the domain of the mental gnome. The English person of culture and class still has a negative reaction to the sports; football, how frightful, not worth the time of any person of intelligence. In Italy, sport is regarded as part of the pursuit of the whole man. Love for football flows through every stream of Italian society. On the pitch, the Phrase “Italian Style” has a connotation reflecting skill, technique and patience – and the occasional tendency to histrionics. The English style is combative, inspirational, fearless and brave to the point of foolhardiness. The team is often distracted by the off-field activities of its notoriously violent supporters. When the Italian World Cup – winning team scored its third goal in the 1982 Final in Spain, the President of Italy sprang to his feet in the VIP box, his fist clenched in a victory salute – like any other fan. It is hard to imagine a similar reaction from a much younger Tony Blair or Gordon Brown should the victor be England. This football loving country has won the world cup four times, only one less than the Brazilians. Magical Artistry To the Italians, and most other Europeans, the ball is a valuable asset, which requires much effort to regain if lost and therefore not to be given away lightly. Spain invented and used its most artistic variation known as Tiki-Taka. But, ultimately the South Americans have perfected the art, with the Brazilians making it virtually an integral part of their very being. Brazilian’s magical artistry with the ball has obviously created the number of heroes, whose names and faces are recognized by millions world-wide. While their collective brilliance resulted in five world cup wins, it also resulted in some unexpected setbacks. While they are a visual treat to watch in action, they are not as consistent as the Germans during the last two decades. The German team, often lacking any superstar to talk about, reached the finals, often banking on their sheer diligence and consistency. In absolute contrast to the Brazilian way, the hallmarks of Germans are technical proficiency and teamwork. Their winning formula is quite simple – gather a group of technically proficient players, spice it up with one or two top class performers and then gel them into a team capable of producing more than the sum of its parts. With this formula and backed by their national traits, Germany reached the finals seven times, equalling Brazil, and won the championship three times. The Brazilian attitude to the game has ingredients of fun and artistry, where the result (apparently) takes a back seat. But other South American nations are far more serious about the outcome. And, for that victory Uruguay was ready to do everything on the ground. Players all over the world think that a really good foul early in the game will give opponents a respect that lasts until the final whistle. The Uruguayans had merely organized it better than the other. Up until 1986, when a strong referee did his stuff, the Uruguayans adopted an approach of utter cynicism. Call it realism if you prefer, or if you want to take Uruguayan’s point of view. With this kind of fervour, Argentina and Uruguay, won the Cup twice each, followed by France and England who took the World Cup home only once. In contrast, an average Frenchman watching the World Cup will probably think the World Cup is great but ultimately unimportant. Incidentally, now only average Frenchmen do not mean the French side (for that matter other European side), which reached its zenith of success about a decade back. It has a large share of “beur” boys, born out of African parentage. So, the generation led by Zidane Zidane added that little extra winning punch which the earlier generation of Michel Platinni could not deliver. Today even Russia has Brazilian born Mario Fernandez. Every nation plays football to the same set of rules, but rules are no more than the framework in which moral differences are expressed. One nation’s hard-but-fair player is another’s animal. One man’s “bit of character” is another’s assassin. Grand Passion The so-called Maradona incident is the best example. In a tight, enthralling game against England, Maradona made the final breakthrough by scoring a goal with his hand. He went to head the ball, was not high enough, and tipped it with his hand over the advancing Shilton in goal. He described the goal, unforgettably, afterwards: “A little bit the hand of God, a little bit the head of Diego.” All England went “we wuz robbed.” And so they were, but any footballer would have done the same. And the Cronica newspaper of Buenos Aires was unambiguous: “We blasted the English pirates with Maradona and a little hand. He who robs a thief has a thousand years of pardon.” Small wonder then, there is great passion, great folly, great excitement, great expectations resulting in the great spectacle of World Cup football. While some players will rise to the occasion and play magnificently, others will fall from grace and behave appallingly before half the world. Some may even manage both (as Maradona did). Thus, every four years, the world gathers together under the banner of football to celebrate its unbridgeable differences. Folly it certainly is, but it is good that such folly exists. After all, there are ways of sorting out national differences that are far more foolish. (The author is a senior journalist based in Navi Mumbai. Views personal.)

India waits to lasso diamantaire Mehul Choksi

Mumbai: India rubbed its hands gleefully as the Belgium Police honoured its request to arrest the absconder diamantaire Mehul Chinubhai Choksi – more than seven years after he, along with his nephew Nirav Deepak Modi - allegedly duped the Punjab National Bank of nearly Rs. 13,800-crores.

 

The scam involving the ‘Mehul Mama-Nirav Bhanja’ erupted in Jan 2018, after the PNB lodged a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

 

By then the kin, along with many of their family members, winked and slipped out of the country, leaving a rattled India rubbing its palms in disappointment.

 

A political-cum-financial storm raged, embarrassing the Bharatiya Janata Party government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi a year before the Lok Sabha elections.

 

Multiple agencies launched a multi-pronged probe into what became the biggest banking scam in the past quarter century – and almost four times bigger than the stock market-cum-banking fraud the late Big Bull Harshad Mehta had inflicted on the Indian economy 33 years ago (in April 1992) – when it was just opening up.

 

In Belgium

According to official reports, Choksi was living with his Belgium citizen-wife Preeti in Antwerp, a global diamond hub, presumably for the past 18 months on a ‘residency permit’ acquired through questionable means, for medical reasons.

 

Earlier, he shot to the headers (June 2021) while being taken in a wheelchair to a court by the Dominican Republic's Police on charges of sneaking into the small country in the Caribbean Sea, North America.

 

Interestingly, as the Antigua & Barbuda government initiated the process to cancel his citizenship acquired through an investor visa, Choksi had suddenly gone ‘missing’ till he surfaced in the Dominican Republic.

 

The April 2025 action by Belgium followed a request by India’s CBI and the financial frauds specialist Enforcement Directorate (ED) to nab Choksi as the InterPol had revoked his Red Corner Notice in 2023.

 

Mama and Bhanja

‘Mama’ Choksi is the founder-owner of Gitanjali Group while ‘bhanja’ Nirav’s Firestar plus other companies – and the duo, with some PNB officials hand-in-glove – conspired to make a ‘mamu’ of not only PNB, but other banks, as it subsequently tumbled out.

 

After making a quiet exit, Choksi was detected living in the verdant Antigua & Barbuda Isles (West Indies), then attempted entry to the Dominican Republic, was sent back to Antigua & Barbuda and then went to Belgium where he was nabbed on Sunday.

 

Similarly, Modi was found sauntering on the streets of London and nabbed in March 2019. He remains in jail there since India's extradition is still pending.

 

However, India is keeping its fingers crossed that it may finally lay hands on Choksi, bring him to India and face trial in the PNB scam, though it may take time.

 

Born in Mumbai (1959) and educated in Gujarat, Choksi, 66, and wife Preeti have three children.

 

The Rs. 13,800-crore PNB scam

In the modus operandi revealed after India’s second-largest PSU bank PNB admitted it was scammed, Choksi and Modi used fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoU) to get overseas credits or loans from Indian banks.

 

The PNB first informed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) of the fraud and then lodged a criminal complaint with the CBI in Jan. 2018, plus another CBI complaint in Feb, that led to a FIR against Modi and Choksi and their companies.

 

The ED entered the scene to probe the allegations of money-laundering through the LoUs – which they allegedly misused to avail short-term business finances from foreign branches of Indian banks.

 

The probe said that the duo were availing the LoUs from the PNB’s Brady House Branch from March 2011, and over the next six-seven years, managed to get a whopping 1,200-plus LoUs like a breeze with the help of some friendly bankers within.

 

Post-scam, the gold-diamond companies Gitanjali Group and Firestone Group with multiple operations in India and abroad have largely wound up, while some personal assets of the mama-bhanja have been auctioned to recover a part of the dues.

 

ED's plea to declare Choksi fugitive stuck for seven years

Even as absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the Punjab National Bank loan fraud case, has been arrested in Belgium, the ED's plea to declare him a fugitive economic offender has been pending before a court in Mumbai for nearly seven years.


Choksi, 65, and his nephew diamantaire Nirav Modi are the prime accused in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB bank loan fraud case. Choksi was arrested in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian probe agencies, official sources said on Monday.


The Enforcement Directorate had filed the application in July 2018, seeking to declare Choksi an FEO and confiscate his assets under provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.


However, the matter has witnessed repeated delays owing to a barrage of applications filed by the accused in the PMLA court and the Bombay High Court alleging procedural lapses in the Enforcement Directorate's plea.


"The court is kept busy with frivolous applications, and hearing on our application to declare him (Choksi) an FEO has been adjourned for the past seven years,” an ED officer had said after the hearing was once again deferred this February.


"The court should have continued the hearing and taken a decision on the future course of action once the application was moved," the officer had said.

He had urged the court to take note of the repeated filing of similar applications and to not entertain them.


Choksi's lawyer had informed the court that the accused was undergoing treatment for suspected cancer in Belgium and intended to file an application in connection with his health.


Under the FEO Act, an individual can be declared a Fugitive Economic Offender if a warrant has been issued against him for an offence involving Rs 100 crore or more and he has left India while refusing to return. Once declared an FEO, the person's property can be confiscated by the investigating agency.


Choksi had challenged the ED's application in the Bombay High Court, alleging that the agency "had not followed proper procedure before filing the application and, hence, it stands vitiated".


However, in September 2023, the High Court dismissed his plea, ruling that the ED had adhered to the prescribed format under the FEO Act. It also vacated a stay on the special court's proceedings.


Despite this, the hearing on declaring Choksi FEO could not commence, with Choksi continuing to file applications before the special court through his lawyers.


While most of these pleas have been dismissed, a few remain pending. His latest attempt to stall proceedings through a plea to recall the notice issued on the ED's FEO application was rejected in December 2023.


According to ED officials, Choksi left India under suspicious circumstances in early January 2018.


Shifting stance

Choksi's counsel has argued that the ED kept shifting its stance on the material grounds for declaring him an FEO and that the suspension of his Indian passport made it impossible for him to return for investigation.

The court, however, rejected this argument, stating that the notice was issued based on accurate information and not based on "wrong facts or mistaken assumptions".


ED claimed the accused left the country under suspicious circumstances in the first week of January 2018.


Nirav Modi has already been declared as an FEO by the special court. He has been lodged in jail in London since 2019.

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