After that fateful night at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore when Sunil Chhetri scored the controversial goal against Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League knockout match, the Bengaluru FC captain’s social media posts were flooded with hate comments.
Things got worse when his best helper Sonam Bhattacharya was on the receiving end of such treatment. Late on Wednesday night, Sonam took to her Instagram to respond to the hate and nasty words being thrown at her and Sunil.
“In the midst of soccer, the rivalry, the passion and the support, how did we forget to be nice and civil to each other?” started his post.
“I sincerely hope you have put all your hate, toxic thoughts and frustration on social media behind you and are at home at peace with your loved ones. I hope you got what you wanted by abusing and threatening the family,” he continued.
Mind you, Sonam is no stranger to how high passions can run in this sport. She is the daughter of one of the Indian greats of the sport in Subrata Bhattacharya and thus she is well attuned to banter and rivalry among fans, long before she married Chhetri.
However, what begins as jokes and rivalry can turn into abuse and undesirable toxicity, which happened in this situation. Sunil effigies were seen being burned in Kerala after the match. However, Sonam’s view of ‘God’s country’ has not changed.
“Kerala is a beautiful state with warm and welcoming people so no amount of hate will change my perception,” her post read.
At the end of the message, he urges everyone to keep kindness above all else, especially after the final whistle. “For all the emotions that soccer brings, once the final whistle blows, let’s keep kindness at the top of that list,” she concluded.
Bengaluru FC and Chhetri will be back in action on Sunday night with a 1-0 lead against Mumbai City FC when they meet in the second leg of the semi-final.
