Football Goats: Indian Village Takes On Bending Competition | Football News

Chaibasa, India – As the world celebrates Spain’s second FIFA World Cup win with soccer’s “GOAT” leading the month-long tournament, a remote Indian village has also joined in – albeit with a local touch.

In conjunction with the FIFA event, residents of Tirilbasa village in Chaibasa, a tribal district in eastern Jharkhand, India, organized a soccer tournament from July 14 to July 17, featuring teams from 64 nearby villages.

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But the star attraction of the Rangila Star Tirilbasa competition (“rangla” means “beautiful” in Hindi), in addition to the handsome prize money, was a group of goats to be awarded as trophies to the best performing teams.

The final was played on Friday, with NCS Maudi beating Kumbaram 1-0, a stunning foreshadowing of what happened between Spain and Argentina two days later in New York.

NCS Maudi took with him 15,000 rupees ($156) and three male goats (locally known as “khassi” because they were killed when they were young). Finalist Kumbaram won 12,000 rupees ($125) and two khasis, while Kobra FC Nimdhi and Galubasa FC, who are in third and fourth place, won 9,000 rupees ($93) and one khasis. There are also cash prizes for man of the match, man of the series and best goalkeeper, but Khassi doesn’t get it.

NCS captain Maudi Sachin Devam, whose team arrived on two wheels for the match, told Al Jazeera that they had to organize a truck to take the goats home, 10km (6 miles) away.

“It is the first victory for our team, and we will celebrate with everyone in the village,” he said with a smile. “It’s going to be a khasi picnic.”

‘Khassi is an important part of our culture’

This year was the fifth edition of the Rangila Star Tirilbasa competition.

The organizers say they follow FIFA’s rulebook and invite public comments and referees certified by the state football body to ensure they follow the guidelines and “avoid fights as players can be violent on the pitch”.

But the rest is very different from normal games. Instead, it is based on the ancient traditions of the Ho tribe, which originates from the Chaibasa region.

The Ho people, who number more than a million across India, are naturally Austroasiatic and identify as tribal people (“adivas” in Hindi) who live in the forests. The word “ho” in their language means “man” or “people” of the Kolhan region of Jharkhand, one of the poorest states in India despite being home to India’s largest coal and mineral mines.

Austroasiatic tribes like Santhals, Ho and Munda organize their cultural, religious and sports activities as a united community. Football events are an opportunity to invite family members to celebrate their union.

For the Ho people, no festival is complete without kassi. The animals are used as sacrifices in religious events and rituals, and their meat is shared among the community.

“Khassis is part of the prize because it is an important part of our culture. Their meat is delicious, and everyone loves a good lamb. Many groups kill goats, but some keep them as pets and prizes,” Manish Kudada, an 18-year-old football player and one of the organizers of the tournament from Tirilbasa, told Al Jazeera.

Kudada has kept the black dress he won in a football match in February, but his friends joke that the goat is getting fat at the party. Khasi goats are very important for their meat. In Chaibasa, goats can be seen everywhere, especially in the weekly Tuesday markets, where a baby goat costs as much as 8,000 rupees ($83).

“Without khassi, our celebrations are intimate. At weddings, even if the hosts serve double the amount of chicken and khassi meat, it will disturb the villagers,” Raj Keshri, who is the guard of the Tirilbasa team and one of the organizers of the tournament, told Al Jazeera.

“So we decided to give money and goats as prizes. The players keep their money, but with khassis, they also enjoy the whole village.”

The Ho practices what they call the Munda-Manki system of governance, where the head of village inheritance supports all the rights of the people, the laws and customs of the people. Their ethnic and cultural values ​​are superior to the Indian government’s panchayat (village leadership) and police systems.

The Rangila Star Tirilbasa competition is held at the “ek munda” level (“ek” means “one” in Hindi), which means that team members must belong to the same village. Instead of 11 players, each team has nine, of which at least six must be from the same village to participate in the competition. Organizers say the rule is being strictly enforced to promote unity among players.

The rules of the game have also been changed. There is no offside, and players have the right to score anywhere on the field.

“The organization of this kind of game gives an opportunity to players like us from small villages who don’t get the chance to participate in open games run by professional players,” Sudarshan Tiu, who plays for Galubasa FC, told Al Jazeera.

Suvir Kumar Tanti, a commentator for the tournament, travels around the Kolhan region during the monsoon season, when many men return to their homes for farming and agricultural festivals.

At the final match held in Tirilbasa on Friday, his clear and crisp voice rang out loud, helping the audience to catch up on the action on the football pitch.

“The Rangila Star competition shows the culture of the Ho people. And the khassi goats as a prize make it very different. Very few activities in the region follow this and they tend to do professional events, with trophies and medals as prizes,” he told Al Jazeera.

The race provides entertainment for the villagers, who pour in and out of the place all day, swinging the sides of the garden or finding a place in the trees.

Nearby is a grocery store that sells fried balls, potatoes, yellow peas, and hooch. Men sit around, taking breaks between matches to drink “madia”, a fermented rice drink that locals say keeps them cool in the hot, humid weather.

In the evening after the matches, the men also play a game of cock, in which the spectators can bet their money.

Keshri, who is a player of the Tirilbasa team, explains the reason behind the tournament’s popular name: Rangila Star Tirilbasa.

This name was chosen because it represents our village. ‘Rangila’ (beautiful) means that we have a passion for doing special things while ‘Star’ represents creativity.

The tribal-dominated state of Jharkhand has been practicing sports for decades. It has produced some of the world’s most award-winning hockey players, most notably former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The government supports football and hockey clubs like Rangila Star with financial support, which leads to the development of the next generation of players. Many such clubs, including Rangila, also host women’s club competitions.

But until ten years ago, Chaibasa was not on the sports map.

The city is located in the middle of forests and remote mountains, the district was removed from India due to the Maoist insurgency – a tribal insurgency led by the Indian state due to large-scale deforestation and the sale of land to private companies for mining and other activities.

The government regained control of Chaibasa from the Maoists in 2011. However, until last year, private vehicles avoided plying the roads through the district at night. Commercial buses operated from 4am to 4pm, and the area remained on the government’s list of “critical areas”.

In March this year, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah announced the end of Maoist insurgency after the killing or arrest of security forces in Jharkhand and surrounding states, especially Chhattisgarh.

When the violence started, Chaibasa turned into a busy town. Shops selling pizza, burgers and laptops, along with offices and warehouses for coal and iron ore mining companies, have come. Christian missionary schools and colleges are located throughout the region, providing educational opportunities to the tribes.

The sporting activities are going well, Chaibasa is fast emerging as a football hotspot, producing players like midfielder and forward Malati Munda.

Munda, who gained international fame through local competitions, ended up playing in the league in Kolkata, the capital of neighboring West Bengal, where football is very popular.

“I had no coach to guide me or teach me. No one had heard of me. When I came to Chaibasa town for higher education, I met several brothers and sisters who taught me and guided my game,” Munda told Al Jazeera.

The weekly local games gave Munda the skills and ability to improve his game. He also brought a prize. “I have played in several such games where we won money, yes, khassi,” he said with a laugh.

Munda currently plays for the Home Guard in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi – a path many players from poor families take to get a government job in India.

Harish Hemram of Chaibasa started his career as a football producer by watching local matches and uploading their videos on television. His YouTube channel today has more than 211,000 subscribers, and the biggest match of Jharkhand.

“Football has become popular in the villages, and many like me go to matches in different places. I started uploading videos for the enjoyment of fans who could not attend. But soon the videos showed a lot of interest, and I started my YouTube channel. Now the organizers call me to show their games,” said Al Jazeera.

Hemram said he earns about 20,000 ($208) a month through his YouTube channel alone. He has moved to Ranchi where he has also opened a sports shop selling footballs, jerseys, shoes etc. Many players from Chaibasa visit his shop.

The nature of football in Chaibasa defies the notion that India is not a football country.

Sandeep Menon, author of Sacred Grounds: A Journey Through People’s Football in India, says he has discovered and written about football across the country. He said that while India is not well known on the world football map, the love for the game in the country is “unparalleled”.

“In the beginning, football is played with great interest throughout the country. And everyone has their own style of the game, so that it can be interesting and flexible according to the availability of space, local environment, climate and culture,” Menon told Al Jazeera.

Menon said rural village games like Rangila Star Tirilbasa attract young players and give them a chance to become famous overnight. “There’s a lot of money involved in playing for the community and representing it,” he said. For some players, football is their identity and pride.