Sachin says no to liquor brand endorsement, turns down $22 million

[Jono]

Still an Ansett sign up on a random building near Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne. Always lol when I pass it whilst driving there.

 

[GotSpin]

Haha

Still remember that moment like it was yesterday.

Yeah was awesome

Still an Ansett sign up on a random building near Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne. Always lol when I pass it whilst driving there.

Definitely looking out for that

 

[G.I.Joe]

Tendulkar turning down crores at 18 was more impressive, tbh, not that this still isn't.

 

[Blaze 18]

I remember Viv Richards turning down huge offers for playing in rebel tours in South Africa in the 80s. I remember Ian Botham doing the same too (which too me is even more impressive, considering Botham wasn't even a black). Because apartheid was still rampant in South Africa during that time. And at the time there was hardly any money in cricket compared to what is now.

That is very impressive indeed; but weren't rebel tours illegal ? Isn't that similar to a player turning down a lucrative offer from a bookie to underperform ?

Yes, what Sachin did was good but there have been quite a few instances of great players standing by their own morals/principles rather than succumbing to money. In fact, one could say that it is rarer to find great players who were out-and-out immoral, than the other way around.

And one has to understand definition of morals/principles vary from person to person depending on which culture they come from. For Viv, doing a beer-ad would be no big deal but supporting anything that directly or indirectly supports apartheid would be a strict no-no. That is the culture he comes from.

For a pro-organic-food nut like me, sweetened carbonated drinks (Pepsi/Coke etc.) are far worse than alchohol since they directly affect children, but just because cricketers endorse those drinks doesn't make them any less great in my eyes.

A quality post, I agree completely with whatever you have said here. This is not the greatest thing anyone has ever done, no-one is arguing it is; I just took objection to two things :

1) Sachin only did this because he already has a lot of money.

2) the vast majority of people in Sachin's place would have turned down such an offer.

In fact, I did not feel the need to comment in this thread until I saw the above two points being made. A poster or two also felt this topic didn't deserve a thread - that is fine as it is their opinion. However, you cannot stop anyone from engaging in a discussion on a topic such as this, can you ? It is a cricket forum after all. I personally think that "Tendulkar vs Ashes" is a dud topic (and that is not a slight on Burgey, who I think is an excellent poster from what little I have seen him post; I am just using it as an example), but I did not go there and try to ruin it for everyone else. When one does believe that a topic is not worthy of discussion, then surely the most prudent thing to do would be to not post in the thread and hope that it goes down, instead of ensuring it stays on top by contributing actively to the same ?

And yes, Sachin is certainly not beyond criticism, no-one on this planet is

 

[G.I.Joe]

Apartheid and this instance aren't even remotely comparable. Apartheid was a cultural issue in the West Indies. No black player on a tour to SA in those years could hope to escape widespread condemnation back home.

Endorsement of alcohol in India has nowhere near the social stigma attached to it that apartheid did in the West Indies. It requires a lot more personal self control on your part to turn down an alcohol endorsment in India than a West Indies player refusing to tour apartheid South Africa.

 

[Bun]

Get a life you all. Cultural differences and all. It is a great gesture from Sachin considering the history of the country, where Gandhi advocated prohibition and in some territtories it is still the law.

 

[G.I.Joe]

I didn't say it was illegal, although it might have been against the policies of the English Cricket Board at the time. There definitely was a stigma attached to it though. Botham and Richards were close buddies and room mates when playing for Somerset, IIRC. Twice the reason for Botham to distance himself from those tours. I don't think you realise the magnitude of the difference between the two instances. There have been WI players who have spent the rest of their lives as virtual social outcasts for participating in these tours. Do you think any Indian player is shunned for appearing in advertisements for alcohol products?

 

[smash84]

Apartheid and this instance aren't even remotely comparable. Apartheid was a cultural issue in the West Indies. No black player on a tour to SA in those years could hope to escape widespread condemnation back home.

Endorsement of alcohol in India has nowhere near the social stigma attached to it that apartheid did in the West Indies. It requires a lot more personal self control on your part to turn down an alcohol endorsment in India than a West Indies player refusing to tour apartheid South Africa.

This does make sense.

 

[Altaican]

I didn't say it was illegal, although it might have been against the policies of the English Cricket Board at the time. There definitely was a stigma attached to it though. Botham and Richards were close buddies and room mates when playing for Somerset, IIRC. Twice the reason for Botham to distance himself from those tours. I don't think you realise the magnitude of the difference between the two instances. There have been WI players who have spent the rest of their lives as virtual social outcasts for participating in these tours. Do you think any Indian player is shunned for appearing in advertisements for alcohol products?

Might have been a big thing in West Indies (although I must admit I haven't heard of Colin Croft suffering from any sort of discrimination after participating in it). I also don't think that the reason for someone as fiercely independent as Richards refusing to participate in it was because of fear of public backlash. It was more because he himself was strongly against supporting apartheid in any way. IMO, his pride and his conscience, far more than the fear of what people around him would have said, were the deciding factors in his refusing those deals.

In any case it certainly wasn't as big a taboo in England. Never seen Gooch or Gatting suffer for it, although both participated in those tours. If Botham did it for the sake of his friendship with Richards, that is just as commendable. Ultimately he put values that he believed in (friendship or stance against apartheid or whatever) over money. That is just the same what Tendulkar did.

 

[social]

ROFL at the guys claiming he is turning this down because he is already rich.. How many of you are aware that he turned down endorsing Director's Special and Wills when he was just about 18 or 19?? They sponsored all test and ODI cricket in India for a 5 year period and he was the first guy they went to with an offer that ran into millions of dollars (20 years ago, that is an even bigger sum that $22 M is today).. It is one thing to knock a guy for a real flaw but this just reeks of "lets find something to blame him with..."


On the topic, it is nice but not really a surprise. The guy had the maturity and the guts to turn down a multi-mullion dollar contract at a time when they were not even heard of as it went against the principles of himself and his father. He is simply being consistent, just like he is on the field.

I was recently in Mumbai and people claimed that he still lives in the same apartment that he was brought up in ( as well as being humble, great etc - all of which are true btw)

Made no comment but it seemed strange to me on a no. of levels

a. He's married

b. He's stinking rich

c. See a and b

 

[Shri]

Can't be true, almost sure that was just made up. Hoe is from mumbai, he can confirm.

 

[Cruxdude]

I was recently in Mumbai and people claimed that he still lives in the same apartment that he was brought up in ( as well as being humble, great etc - all of which are true btw)

Made no comment but it seemed strange to me on a no. of levels

a. He's married

b. He's stinking rich

c. See a and b

He stayed in the same apartment for a long time but I think he stays in a different place now. Read somewhere about him buying a bungalow.

 

[tooextracool]

Whilst I agree that it is admirable to be able to turn down such an offer, and I do admire Tendulkar as a person, I think threads like these inevitably support the notion that people seem perpetually infatuated with him as a person and a player. It seems to me that Sachin could take a dump on the pitch and it would be idolized as the greatest dump in the history of mankind, second only to the Don etc

I appreciate the fact that he stands up to his beliefs and that he is a man of integrity. However there are plenty of others in the cricketing world who would do the same, I'm just not sure if we need to see a thread about every move that Sachin makes in his personal or professional life. I simply don't understand the purpose of this thread because it doesn't tell us anything we didn't know.

 

[Hit Wicket]

Comparing this to the rebel tours is quite frankly a joke.

I have very strong feelings on the apartheid issue, more so because there have been attempts to trivialize it over the last many years. Going on tours to a country, a cricket board, and a selection process which discriminates on the basis of the race of a person is implicit support for racism. Specially when all major sporting bodies and even the United Nations had made the stance very clear. There is no other and softer way to say it. The worst of the lot were the West Indian 'rebels'. They turned out to be low life mercenaries, earning big money, while not realizing the simple fact that if they had been born in South Africa instead they would have been second class citizens, and never played in an international match.

As far as I am concerned, all rebel tour players had either IQs close to 50 to not realize the importance of the issue, were borderline racists, or were full fledged racists.

To compare such a grave social issue with an alcohol endorsement is exactly the kind of thinking which has led to a washing away of the grave underpinnings of the rebel tours, which were nothing but glorification of racism.

 

[sledger]

Whilst I agree that it is admirable to be able to turn down such an offer, and I do admire Tendulkar as a person, I think threads like these inevitably support the notion that people seem perpetually infatuated with him as a person and a player. It seems to me that Sachin could take a dump on the pitch and it would be idolized as the greatest dump in the history of mankind, second only to the Don etc

I appreciate the fact that he stands up to his beliefs and that he is a man of integrity. However there are plenty of others in the cricketing world who would do the same, I'm just not sure if we need to see a thread about every move that Sachin makes in his personal or professional life. I simply don't understand the purpose of this thread because it doesn't tell us anything we didn't know.

Quite.

The amount of people speaking about him as if he is some holier than thou character whom they know personally is pretty funny tbh. Don't get me wrong, I like Sach as much as the next guy, but jeez, come on.

 

[Altaican]

Whilst I agree that it is admirable to be able to turn down such an offer, and I do admire Tendulkar as a person, I think threads like these inevitably support the notion that people seem perpetually infatuated with him as a person and a player. It seems to me that Sachin could take a dump on the pitch and it would be idolized as the greatest dump in the history of mankind, second only to the Don etc

I appreciate the fact that he stands up to his beliefs and that he is a man of integrity. However there are plenty of others in the cricketing world who would do the same, I'm just not sure if we need to see a thread about every move that Sachin makes in his personal or professional life. I simply don't understand the purpose of this thread because it doesn't tell us anything we didn't know.

Perfectly put.

 

[slugger]

A better person would have taken the money and given it all directly back to the poor children in India who do not have chance because of the Indian tradition with the caste system.

And maybe take leaf out of Paul Newmans book. where Paul Newmans food brand "Newmans Own" established a policy that all proceeds, after taxes, would be donated to charity. As of early 2006, the franchise has donated in excess of $250 million to a number of charities, in particular to sick and ill children of America.

 

[Cruxdude]

A better person would have taken the money and given it all directly back to the poor children in India who do not have chance because of the Indian tradition with the caste system.

And maybe take leaf out of Paul Newmans book. where Paul Newmans food brand "Newmans Own" established a policy that all proceeds, after taxes, would be donated to charity. As of early 2006, the franchise has donated in excess of $250 million to a number of charities, in particular to sick and ill children of America.

Do not talk about stuff you don't understand. Caste system and poverty are not exactly cause and effect.

 

[slugger]

Maybe you can go tell that to Dalit's (people). you should fine one working in the office cubicle next to you..right....

 

[Burgey]

Quite.