Boos and slogans return to Indo-Pak matches

“This is to bring down the guy’s morale. Well,none of us should do it,considering that we gave them such warm welcome,but when everybody starts shouting things like these,the herd mentality sets in,” said a Boxing Federation official who did not want to be named. After a few minutes of displeasure,the crowd reverted to cheering for India after some members of the foreign media advised against doing so by signalling and telling everybody to calm down.

The atmosphere at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium on Sunday may have been electric with India fans going into a frenzy,but even here the boos for the neighbouring country were loud and clear. Even the Pakistani National Anthem wasn’t received very well.

“India-Pakistan matches are always a combination of loud cheer and anti-Pakistan slogans when they happen in India. But the slogans in the boxing match were too loud,” said Ravish Khanna,a spectator,who watched the game with his brother. “With the world watching,we need to give out a better message to the world through sports which goes beyond politics now,” said Harpreet Singh.