Sports and entertainment are holding back the surge of deglobalisation

In a world where the leaders busy themselves with trade wars and cyber battles, while ordinary citizens cower from the threat of COVID-19, it is very reassuring to see the Indian Premier League (IPL) being played in the United Arab Emirates. Not one of the players in the eight franchises on display is from the region and with the matches being played in a biosecurity bubble there are no Indian fans either. However, the three stadiums in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi have been excellent neutral venues having hosted IPL games as well as test matches in the past.

Effectively, the IPL is bringing together some of the best cricketers in the world from Australia, Afghanistan, New Zealand, England, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, besides India, to play cricket in a venue away from home at a time when the world is under a lockdown. That is great for cricket and for sport in general. Beyond that it is also a signal that there is still enough scope for mutually beneficial relationships between nations.

The notion of a flat world in which goods and services move seamlessly based on the comparative advantages of individual nations faces daily assaults from potentially destructive conflicts between countries like the United States, China and India. Geostrategic experts, in fact, have concluded that the golden era of globalisation may well be over. Thus in May, Carmen Reinhart, a professor of international finance at the Harvard Kennedy School, said on Bloomberg TV “Without being melodramatic, COVID-19 is like the last nail in the coffin of globalisation.”

The signs are all around us, in China’s recent directive imposing restrictions on the export of artificial intelligence technologies from the country as also in the US administration under President Donald Trump forcing a Chinese company to choose between shutting down and selling out to US owners. They are also visible in the Indian government’s decision to ban hundreds of Chinese apps for fears of data leakage. However, it isn’t just these overt and aggressive steps that mark our march towards a more insular world. There is also the surreptitious but dangerous move by a handful of rich nations to corner half the supply of any future COVID-19 vaccine for their own citizens.

In the face of such gloom it is heartening to see that sports and entertainment remains steadfastly global, and may even have extended their reach during this pandemic. The New York Film Festival, for years the exclusive preserve of New Yorkers and the handful of global rich who could afford to be in the city at that time, is now open to all film lovers no matter where in the world they are based. Similarly, thanks to the rise in streaming services, Netflix and Amazon Prime shows like Schitt’s Creek and Hunters are equally popular in India as well as in the US. Disney released its much-anticipated film Mulan only to Disney+ subscribers in the US since a theatrical release wasn’t possible, but put it out in theatres in China, since the pandemic was under control there. The movie bombed in both countries.

The sports business, too, continues its inexorable march towards worldwide proliferation. Italy’s legendary club AC Milan, which has fallen upon bad times, unable to qualify for the Champions League in the last six years and failing to win the Serie A in its previous 10 attempts, is now owned by American activist hedge fund Elliott Management.

Over in England, some of the top Premier League clubs, including Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Leicester, are owned by foreigners. In fact, American billionaires, Russian oligarchs, West Asian oil sheikhs, even Thai tycoons, all have a common interest in the world’s most popular sporting league.

The same goes for the players. The best of them from every corner of the world want to try out for one of the top European clubs to monetise their talent and years of hard work. Many of them have been well rewarded and have become millionaires showing the way to young kids back home.

Indeed, is there a better ad for globalisation than the sight of a 19-year-old Lassina Traore from the abjectly poor nation of Burkina Faso, bagging a multi-million-dollar contract from Ajax, a top Dutch club?

Sundeep Khanna is a senior journalist. Views are personal.