Daily Human – Why it’s ok for an Indian to wear a Brazil or Argentina jersey at the Football World Cup

This particular question was being asked by a lot of people during the World Cup – “ why are Indians wearing jerseys of other nations. Will citizens of other nations ever wear India’s jersey? “.

As someone who always wears a jersey when watching live games ( see pics below ), I decided to try and answer this. Here’s my reason. To both questions. Why we wear and why others wear or don’t wear.

First, India has to become a football power and start playing in the World Cup, for people from other nations to start supporting it and start wearing its jerseys during the Football World Cup.

Now let’s extend this to all sports. I would never wear any other country’s or foreign player’s jersey if India or Indian players were regularly competing at the highest level in that sport. Which means that if Leander Paes was playing Boris Becker or if the Indian Gymnastics team was competing against the mighty US team ( starring Simone Biles) , I would always support the india. Even though I was a huge fan of both Becker and Biles.

What is a similar example for say a Frenchman or say a Brazilian ? Would they wear a Sachin or Indian team jersey IF they happened to be HUGE CRICKET fans? Just like India and the football World Cup , their country wouldn’t be playing at the Cricket World Cup anytime soon. Its reasonable to expect many neutral cricket fans ( like these hypothetical Frenchmen and Brazilians ) to support India. And in that case, I think some of them might end up wearing a Sachin or India jersey.

Now my final argument. Football is a unique sport. People all over the world play and follow it with passion. I bet there are enough crazy football fans in every country in the world. I don’t think there is any other sport like this. Which makes it universal like music. Nobody has a problem if an Indian is a fan of U2 or Metallica or the Beatles. Similarly, there are Americans and Europeans who are fans of Indians like Zakir Hussain and Ravi Shankar. They attend their concerts and would wear their jerseys if jerseys were a thing in the music world. And if it’s okay to be a fan of the Beatles, then why can’t we support Brazil or Argentina. They are the cult groups of this art form called football. Which transcends nationalities just like music. And as long as India aren’t involved, it’s ok to cheer for them and wear their jerseys.

P.S – I always wear the India jerseys when I watch us play cricket, hockey, tennis or badminton.