Team India has won the title of the SAFF Championship. India defeated Kuwait 5-4 in the penalty shootout in the final played at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The score was tied at 1-1 till full time and then extra time. After this, Team India won the penalty shootout due to excellent goalkeeping by Gurpreet Singh. A tweet went viral after the match, in which it was written – Jackson Singh, Mahesh Singh, and Udanta Singh, all three were part of the Indian team that won the SAFF Championship 2023 and are from Manipur. The same Manipur, which has been burning for the last two months. So when you celebrate victory, do remember Manipur.
All three players are an integral part of the Indian national team and played a key role in helping the Blue Tigers win the SAFF Cup followed by the Intercontinental Cup. As India celebrated the victory and lined up to collect the medal, Jackson, the first of the three, with a multicolored flag draped over his jersey, attracted a lot of attention. As confirmed by Jackson, it was the Manipur flag, which he draped over himself to convey a message of unity. Jackson said that he wanted peace in his state.
In a conversation with ESPN, Jackson said, "This is the flag of my Manipur." I just wanted to tell everyone in India and Manipur to live in peace and not fight. I want peace." Jackson not only received the SAFF Championship winner's medal in the flag but kept it wrapped around him as he walked off the field with Mahesh. However, this move by Jackson did not go down well with some fans and they condemned it, even though it was a good message. At the same time, some people extended their support to the Indian midfielder.
However, Jackson also responded to the criticism and clarified that he did not intend to hurt anyone. He dedicated the victory to all Indians. Jackson wrote in a post on Instagram- Dear fans, I did not want to hurt anyone's feelings by celebrating in the flag. I intended to draw attention to the issues my home state Manipur is facing at the moment. This victory of Team India is dedicated to all Indians. I hope peace returns to my home state of Manipur. Thank you to the fans for coming to the stadium to support the team! Jackson tweeted with the hashtags "Save Manipur" and "Peace and Love" besides "India" and "SAFF Championship 2023".
Earlier, Team India's head coach Igor Stimac also spoke on the Manipur issue. “It is not easy to concentrate on football when you keep reading or listening to disturbing news about where you and your family live,” he said ahead of the Intercontinental Cup. But these players (Udanta, Jackson, Mahesh) have been fantastic for India." Manipur has been rocked by unrest for more than two months, in which more than 120 people have been killed and over 300 injured, while Thousands of people have been displaced. Tension has risen since ethnic violence between the Meitei community and the Kuki on May 3.
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