Subba Row is out of order
COMMENT
One of the worst ever sports related embarrassment experienced by Guyanese has once again made Guyana whipping boys of not only the Caribbean but from those further afield. The erstwhile Mr Raman Subba Row, match referee, administrator and ex England cricketer, has dealt the Caribbean a heavy body blow, not for the first or second time, but for the third occasion. Following his negative ruling from a West Indies perspective, in the 1993 West Indies versus Pakistan one-day international at Bourda, he followed up by deeming Wednesday's chaotic finale to the fifth one-day international at Bourda, a tie. And hot on the heels of that decision, Subba Row has made the abominable pronouncement that Guyana be barred from staging further international matches. His views are nothing short of high class absurdity in light of the growing trend of ultra hooliganistic behaviour in the world of sport these days. Subba Row, born in Asia knows fully the acts of violent and threatening behaviour the inhabitants of India and Pakistan perpetrate on players when results are not going in favour of the host teams during matches. The setting of fire in stands is common place in India notably at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta. In Pakistan West Indian players in particular, cannot play in peace, whether they are thrashing the opposition or not, to be constantly showered by missiles from spectators in the stands. Here again, it does not have to be a mere one-day international for the sub continent spectators to misbehave. On the biggest stage of all competition-- the World Cup, in 1996, the India-Sri Lanka match was abandoned because of heavy missile throwing by Indian spectators at Eden Gardens. This however, does not mean that the uncouth Guyanese spectators on Wednesday must be condoned for a most non-sensical act, which not only cost West Indies a vital victory, but also opened the flood gates for unwarranted maligning of this country. Guyanese seem to have a sadistic penchant for disorder in the sports arenas and the hundreds of spectators who disrupted the game before its conclusion on Wednesday, must be blamed primarily for the debacle this country's cricket finds itself in. Constant pleading before and during the match had no effect whatsoever. This type of roguish behaviour has been occurring over the years not only in cricket but in boxing and football. Boxing officials over the years have battled long and hard to prevent fans from encroaching on the ring apron in situations of high excitement. Were Guyana a strong enough footballing nation, it would have difficult to see this nation progressing very far in light of excess field invasions by spectators to celebrate goals with the scorers. Because of the inept security practices by the Guyana Police Force members, who were more intent on enjoying the match instead of performing a dutiful service on Wednesday, the Guyana Cricket Board must take overall responsibility for the chaos. It has led to a developing situation in cricket in Guyana where it has deteriorated from one where spectators trespass on the playing area to celebrate batting achievements, to one of pitch invasions towards the end of matches whether the home team wins or losses, in Tests or one-day internationals. The 1993 invasion was the beginning of the trend which has deteriorated to situations where such acts are tainted with criminal motives. The advent of live television coverage for international matches in the region, thus has increased the resolve of the less well intentioned pitch invader, to wantonly disregard order to achieve his objective. It is common knowledge that wicket stumps and surrounding areas of the pitch are equipped with expensive cameras and microphones. And of course there are bats and other playing equipment for which Steve Waugh can attest are prime targets. It has reached a situation where the souvenir collect now has to compete with the law breakers, thus the competition becomes fiercer. No wonder the invasions these days occur even before matches are complete. Wednesday's act and others before in Guyana and the Caribbean are not comparable in destruction though, to those perpetrated around the world's sports arenas. In England where Subba Row has lived most of his life, the worst sports hooligans exist. There is never a football international involving England where fighting and destruction does not occur. The disaster which led to the death of several spectators in Belgium because of fighting between English fans and their host country rivals, in a European Club match, tops the list of disasters. The beating to near death of the German policeman by spectators during last year's football World Cup in France is the latest. And there is of course the on court stabbing by a spectator of Monica Seles, the world's best player at the time, in Germany. No strident calls for the banning of competition in those countries have been made including India and Pakistan. Yet Subba Row has the temerity to want Guyana disqualified for two disruptive pitch invasions in six years. It is gross "eye pass". 
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