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The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been shrouded in controversy since it was awarded to the country in 2010. One of the biggest concerns has been Qatar's human rights record, particularly its treatment of migrant workers. Thousands of migrant workers have been employed to build the stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup. These workers have often been subjected to poor working conditions, including long hours, low pay, and inadequate accommodation. Many have also reported being exploited and abused by their employers. In addition, Qatar has a number of other human rights concerns, including its treatment of women, LGBTQ people, and freedom of expression. These concerns have led some to call for the World Cup to be boycotted. **Reaction Across the World** The reaction to the human rights controversy surrounding the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been mixed. Some countries and organizations have called for the tournament to be boycotted, while others have urged FIFA to take action t...

Assume you are the manager of one of the world's biggest football clubs, and a Russian scout approaches you and tells you that he has a player with raw talent that you rarely see in football. If you have some intel coming to you from the Russian scouts, that's quite suspicious. But the manager in this story saw the player's game and gave him the most significant breakthrough one can get. The manager here is none other than Josep Guardiola, and the player is Oleksandr Zinchenko. Олександр Володимирович Зінченко or Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Zinchenko is a Ukrainian footballer who currently plays for Arsenal. That's the only piece of information I'll provide you from his Wikipedia page. But what makes me write a whole piece about Zinchenko? What is so special about him and his game and his personality? The answer lies in the question itself. Where do we begin? Oleksandr "Alex" Zinchenko, aka Zinny, started his career as a number 10 or an attacking midfielder. ...

Circa May 2014, Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai needed to chase 190 in 14.3 overs to qualify for playoffs on a better net run rate over Rajasthan. With the scores tied at 14.3, MI needed a boundary to improve their net run rate to the third decimal place and take that little advantage over RR. Faulkner bowls the 14.4th ball, a supposed yorker that gets turned into a full toss, and a man named Aditya Tare connects with that ball sweetly, striking it for a six on the leg side. Wankhede erupts with elation, and Mr. Tare celebrates like he just won the football World Cup in the 90th minute. Streets Won't Forget is one of those fancy sporting terms coined by social media, meaning "the things that you cannot forget and are underrated." This blog is in appreciation of those. This may include some players, extraordinary knocks, incidents, anecdotes, etc. Unmukt Chand 0(1) b Brett Lee- DD vs KKR Match 1 IPL 2013 (via ESPN CricInfo) Unmukt Chand captained the Indian U-19...

As an Indian, how often have you witnessed your country's national team on the verge of victory only to lose in the dying moments? The number of sporting heartbreaks that we Indians have experienced, particularly in the last decade, is heartbreaking and something to consider. The Indian Men's Hockey team experienced something similar against the Kiwis in their Hockey World Cup crossover match last week. The Indian team led 3-1 at the end of the third quarter before giving up two more goals to finish regulation time with a 3-3 score. In the end, New Zealand won the penalty shootout and advanced to the Quarter-Finals. There are lots of instances like these across many sports we play. Often, our National Men's football would lead the game narrowly like 1-0 or something, and then concede a goal in the dying minutes. Same with the cricket team, both men and women. There's a reason we have not won many ICC trophies after performing like a top team. THE MISSING KILLER INSTINCT...

23 year young Jehan Daruvala , a boy who rose from the karting tracks in Mumbai to drive a McLaren at Silverstone, be it a test but it was some moment for Indian F1 fans. He drove 130 laps around the Silverstone track over two days of testing. He 's our hope to see an Indian race again in F1. But in this blog I won't talk about his history and all that one can read on his Wikipedia page, we'll talk about the impact. Jehan has become the sole reason for me to watch Formula 2, and that's even more fun for me because of how much of a sports enthusiast I am. The schedule for me for the weekend  goes like this: F2 Qualification, F1 Practices on Friday, F2 Sprint and F1 Qualification on Saturday, and both the main races on Sunday. The wait to watch Jehan drive and   hoping for a great race and to see him and that Indian flag on the podium .  As I write this, Jehan is driving his Prema Racing Car from P11 to a fantastic P2 in the Austrian GP. Prema Racing has given the motors...

 A pitch invasion happens when a spectator or a group of spectators rush onto the playing field, usually to celebrate or criticise an incident, or occasionally as a publicity stunt and to spread awareness. A pitch invader carrying a rainbow flag was tackled as they protested during the pre-match anthems ahead of Germany's Euro 2020 clash against Hungary on Wednesday. The rainbow flag protest comes after UEFA turned down a request from the mayor of Munich for the city's stadium to be lit up in rainbow colors for the Euro 2020 Group F match between Germany and Hungary. (Source-  Matthias Hangst/Reuters) The Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool on May 4th, 2021 was postponed after fans dramatically broke into the ground and invaded the pitch in a protest against the Glazer Family, which owns the club. ( Source-  Action Images via REUTERS) A Greenpeace anti-oil protestor nearly crashed into fans moments before France’s  Euro 2020  match again...

BCCI announced in April that they were working on launching a Women's IPLin 2023. It can be counted as a huge boost for the Indian women's cricket scene. In a press conference, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly stated that the BCCI is attempting to field five to six teams for the inaugural season of women's IPL in 2023. Cricket fans around India and also around the globe want a WIPL and they have been asking for it for a long time. But why? Till now, we in India have had, I must not say weak but also not that strong a domestic cricket sphere for women's cricket. Women's T20 Challenge is held every year in the latter parts of the men's IPL and that is the only thing we have as a counter part of the men's IPL. Top women's cricketers from around the world take part in it and some of the domestic talent too. But the problem with the tournament is that it only consists of three teams, and only four matches are played, including a final match, and all three teams ...

61 Grand Slams out of the last 76 are shared between these three. The tennis aficionados call them "The Big Three" and their passports call them Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. If the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T) had a definition, these three names would define it more than perfectly. Romanticizing their greatness in words would be an injustice to their achievements in tennis. Half a decade ago, this "Big Three" was used to be a "Big Four" with the inclusion of Andy Murry, but his injuries didn't help him at all to stay in the same aura as the other three. The current ATP World Ranking is Djokovic at no. 1, Nadal at no. 4, and Federer sadly at 46. 20 Grand Slams each for Novak and Roger and 21 Grand Slams won by Rafael Nadal. The 21st he won recently, the 2022 Australian Open, defeating Danil Medvedev 3 sets to 2 after losing the first two sets. What an enthralling final. For Federer, the surprising factor is hi...

 "Sportswashing is  the practice of laundering one's reputation through sports , whether through team ownership, hosting a major tournament, or sponsorship. A country or politician gets involved, hoping that some of the sport's popularity will improve their image.. " This is how the internet defines the term "sportswashing," and in a literal sense, it is correct, but the story and truth behind it are much deeper. This phenomenon is affected and influenced by history, politics, international relations, and the economy of the person or state involved. One might use one of these aspects of sports to improve his/her or a nation's reputation. Nazi Germany's hosting of the 1936 Berlin Olympics games was one of the first examples of "Sportswashing". In recent times, the involvement of politics in sports is visible everywhere. It's the greed that attracts politicians and leaders to sports; the greed for a good reputation, money, people on th...