Haiti Earthquake and Pakistan Floods: When Tragedy Hits, Sports Stars get Active
The year 2010 has been one seized by tragedies. First the Haiti earthquake caused massive destruction and killed scores of people and now the Pakistani floods have affected 20 million people and caused untold financial damage. Sports teams and athletes joined together to help out then by hosting charity matches and they are trying to get together now as well to assist again. Some people have even said that the flooding tragedy could be the one thing to bring International cricket back to Pakistan after all matches were banned following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009. We will have to wait and see what the International sports community does to help out.
Charity matches have been staged for a long time; one of the first charity matches to be played was a football match played in 1908 between Manchester United and Queens Park Rangers. The match was played at Stamford Bridge and was attended by 12,000 people. It ended as a 1-1 draw, and because no extra time was played and there were no penalties in the early 1900s, a replay match was ordered. That match took place four months later and this time Man U won by 4 goals to nil. This was interesting because £1275 were raised for charity, which was probably a lot of money in those days. It was a commendable effort and got the ball rolling for regular charity matches to be played from then on.
The earthquake that destroyed Haiti and claimed so many lives was a shock that was felt around the world. Many celebrities and athletes got together to help out and raise some money for the affected people. The two top tennis players in the world, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, played a charity match ('Hit for Haiti') to raise money for the country and its people. The interesting part of this match was that it also featured retired stars Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, amongst other prominent tennis stars. Sampras and Agassi were rivals during their playing days as are Federer and Nadal today. Federer teamed up with Sampras to play against Nadal and Agassi. The match raised almost $1 million dollars for relief efforts and the money was given to the American Red Cross. This was a great way for tennis stars of past and present to come together and raise money for the tragedy. The match raised that much money because all four of the players are very well known and Sampras and Agassi were huge stars in their time and still have a massive following, while Federer and Nadal are the world’s most famous tennis players at the moment.
The devastating floods that have recently taken place in Pakistan have affected almost 20 million people, killed 1,600 and made countless others homeless. As cricket is one of the country’s best loved sports, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is toying with the idea to host an International charity match on a large scale. The flooding in the country might persuade international teams to come to the country despite their security fears and play a match that will definitely raise a lot of money to help those affected and in need of aid. It has also come out that the PCB is in talks with India for the two teams to play a match for charity. The chairman of the PCB, Ijaz Butt, said that he was in talks with his Indian counterpart to hold a series of matches between the two countries in a neutral venue and donate all the proceeds to the flood affected people. There is already a series planned that Pakistan will play against South Africa in Dubai in October of this year and a charity match has been arranged to take place during that series as well. A match against India and Pakistan always brings out a large number of spectators, especially in Dubai, so there is the chance to raise a lot of money for charity.
It is a very positive sign when sports are used not only as a vehicle for making tons of money, but as a vehicle for good in the world. When tragedy hits, people need instant relief, aid and money. Sport is a great way to raise a lot of money because one match played in the name of charity has the power to generate a huge amount of money in one go. Hopefully, in the future we will see many more initiatives of this sort take place.
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