When Sports Is Terrorised
The twin blasts at the Boston Marathon brought back memories of all those sporting events marred by acts of terrorism – from Munich 1972 to the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
The recent twin blasts at the iconic Boston Marathon that left three dead and 176 injured brought back memories of all those sporting events that were marred by acts of terrorism. FHM presses the rewind button.
Munich Olympics
September 5-6, 1972. Killed: 17. Just when the games entered their second week, eight members of the Palestinian militant group, Black September, took the Israeli national team captive and demanded the release of some 234 prisoners held in Israeli jails and that of the founders of the German Red Army Faction Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof from German jails in return for the hostages. The demands were not paid heed to, and what came next was a 16-hour long failed rescue mission that left six Israeli coaches, five Israeli athletes and a German policeman dead. Even five members of the perpetrators’ gang were killed. The games also had to be suspended.
The three attackers who were captured had to be released when Black September hijacked a Lufthansa airliner. However, Israel tracked down and killed everyone who was involved in the massacre.
Atlanta Olympics
July 27, 1996. Killed: 2, injured 100. The attack could have killed more people had the security guard Richard Jewell not spotted the pipe bomb and asked the spectators to evacuate the area before the bomb exploded. However, Jewell was also looked upon as a suspect in the bombing that killed spectator Alice Hawthorne and caused the death of Melih Uzunyol by a heart attack. Jewell was later found innocent in October 1996. Seven years later, a former explosives expert of the US Army, Eric Robert Rudolph, was arrested for the bombings and he confessed on all charges. Eric, who is now serving four life sentences, said he masterminded the incident because the Olympics promoted global socialism.
Champions League
May 1, 2002. Injured: 17. A few hours ahead of the much-awaited semi final between Real Madrid and Barcelona, a bomb exploded in a car close to the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. The match was still played though, after making sure that all security measures inside the stadium were in place. It could never be established if the blasts were targeted at the match or were randomly motivated.
Pakistan v New Zealand
May 8, 2002. Killed: 14. The New Zealand cricket team got the shock of their life when a suicide bomber executed an attack outside the hotel where the team was staying in Karachi, Pakistan. The attack resulted in the death of 11 French Navy experts, two Pakistanis and the host team’s physiotherapist. The team returned home immediately after that.
Sports conference, Baghdad
July 15, 2006. This year was the darkest chapter in the history of sports in Iraq as three deadly attacks marred the troubled country’s sporting spirit. On the day, 50 armed men kidnapped Iraq’s Olympic Committee head, Ahmed al-Hadjiya, along with 30 athletes and other officials after a sports conference in Baghdad. 15 athletes and staff members of the Iraqi taekwondo team were also kidnapped en route to a match in Jordan. They never returned. A week later, the Iraqi tennis coach and two of his trainees were shot down as well.
Sinhala and Tamil New Year Marathon, Sri Lanka
April 6, 2008. Killed: 15, injured 90. The then Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, army officer Lt. Colonel Udayadeera, former Olympic marathon runner KA Karunaratne, and the national athletics coach Lakshman de Alwis were all killed in a suicide attack at this marathon in Sri Lanka organised to celebrate the New Year. The Tamil Tigers were blamed for the attack.
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan cricket match
March 3, 2009. Killed: 8, injured 9. While the Sri Lankan team was on its way to play against Pakistan in Lahore, 12 armed men attacked the team bus outside the stadium. Multiple rounds were fired and rockets and grenades were thrown at the bus, which resulted in the death of six policemen and two civilians and the injury of six players, two staff members and an umpire. The militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which has close ties with Al-Qaeda, was held responsible for the attacks. The Sri Lankan team had agreed to play in Pakistan after it was assured of Presidential-level security. India had already cancelled its tour of Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
From the May 2013 issue of FHM India.
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