#FanSpeak: online backlash forces BRICS Cup to change India's lotus-laden jersey

WHEN THE TEAM JERSEYS for the countries about to take part in the 2016 BRICS Dimplomatic Cup came out last night, the Indian fans were in for a surprise. The familiar blue jersey of the Indian football team was adorned by a large orange lotus.

India's jersey for #BRICS Diplomatic Cup. What do you think of it? Yay or Nay? Tell us. #Indianfootball pic.twitter.com/nytLbp0fDT

— football news india (@fni) October 26, 2015

The inclusion of the lotus in the jersey came as a surprise because never before has any team representing India worn a jersey depicting the flower.

While the lotus has the status of being the national flower of India; given the present political climate it was seen by some fans as an attempt by the ruling political party to insert their ideological symbols into the national team's clothing, since the flower is also the election symbol of the party currently in power.

@fni Nay!!! A very big Nay.....! It looks like a BJP sponsored jersey... #IndianFootball

— Philarima Hynniewta (@philarima) October 26, 2015

@fni Honestly even a amateur will design better than this.

— Deepinder kaur (@deepchauhan45) October 27, 2015

@fni now plz don say this vl b the bootom. pic.twitter.com/yQeGw3Up0Y

— आशीष (@ashishdarmwal) October 27, 2015

@fni Isn't Lotus, our (India) national flower? So why 'LOTUS' only limited to BJP/ politics? Grow up & open up u ffs!

— Kavya Aurav (@JainKavya_AFC) October 27, 2015

The BRICS Diplomatic Cup, a new annual tournament conceptualized to be held in conjuction with the meet of the BRICS nations, has politics attached to it by definition; an influence that was threatening to spill onto the sporting attire.

India has seen multiple instances of politics meddling with sports over the years. The on-and-off restrictions on Indian-Pakistan cricket series is a recent example. 

The lotus made an appearance in the sports scene before in 2003, when the opening ceremony for the first Afro Asian Games held in Hyerabad used a main stage constructed in the shape of a lotus. Even back then the same political party was in power.

The lotus-laden jersey sparked a debate online among fans about the complicated relationship that politics shares with sport, especially in this country.

.@fni when will the people at the top stop making a mockery of the sport in the country #indianfootball

— Prateek Yadav (@_prateekyadav) October 27, 2015

@fni @kapsology better put a cow photoprint also.

— anand (@raj_karoge) October 27, 2015

@fni players are representing the country not a pol party, So BIG NAY & requesting BraFool to provide them India's BLUE kit #IndianFootball

— รђเvค (@shiva8m) October 27, 2015

@fni I don't know,they got the colour wrong,the blue is lighter and the saffron is stronger,lotus must have been more central

— Arun Krishnan (@BergkampSaffron) October 26, 2015

@fni not a fan of dragging politics into football

— Mohammed Marzooque (@TheMarzooque) October 26, 2015

Later, the picture of the controversial Indian jersey was deleted from the original post on the BRICS Footbal Cup's official facebook page that carried pictures of the jerseys of all the 5 teams confirmed to play in the inaugural edition of the 6-team tournament. 

Soon enough, a confirmation came from the tournament organizers that they had abandoned the original design due to the controversy that it sparked. 

The timely damage control on the organizers' part will help them pass this incident off as a faux-pas involving an early version of the jersey design. But it is important to remember this design as an instance of political powers trying to use sports as their propaganda vehicle and the role fans played in putting a stop to that by speaking out against it online.

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