“From National hero to Political Hoarding?”
Why Dressing sunil Chhetri Like a Campaign Billboard Is a National Disgrace
This Wasn’t Tribute. This Was Exploitation.
sunil Chhetri didn’t give indian football his youth, lungs, legs, and legacy to become a walking political flex. Yet in Mumbai, the country’s greatest footballer was reduced to exactly that — made to wear a jersey splashed with Lionel Messi’s face and a sly political slogan reading “Maha” for maharashtra and “Deva” for Devendra Fadnavis. This wasn’t honour. This was hijacking. And it should outrage every indian sports fan.
1. A legend Reduced to a Backdrop
sunil Chhetri is not a prop.
He is not a brand extension.
He is not a political canvas.
This is a man who carried indian football on his shoulders for two decades, often playing in empty stadiums, ignored by sponsors, abandoned by administrators. To use him — of all people — as an advertising surface is a slap across the face of sporting dignity.
2. Messi’s Face, A Politician’s Message — And Chhetri in the Middle
Let that sink in.
Lionel Messi’s image on the chest.
A political slogan tucked beneath it.
And India’s captain wearing it like a mannequin.
This wasn’t accidental. This was deliberate messaging, with sunil Chhetri trapped between global stardom and local politics — his stature exploited to legitimize a slogan he never asked to represent.
3. Twenty Years of Sacrifice, Repaid With Humiliation
Chhetri played when footballers begged for respect.
He scored goals when no one watched.
He cried on camera asking fans to come to stadiums — not for fame, but for the future of the sport.
And this is the return?
To be dressed up like a campaign poster while politicians soak up reflected glory?
4. This Wasn’t sports Promotion. This Was Power Posturing
If the intention was to celebrate football, why inject politics?
If the goal was honour, why turn a jersey into a slogan board?
Because this wasn’t about Chhetri.
It wasn’t about Messi.
It was about power using sport as camouflage.
And when politics starts borrowing credibility from athletes, it’s not admiration — it’s appropriation.
5. The Dangerous Normalisation of Using Athletes
Today it’s a jersey.
Tomorrow it’s endorsements by force.
The day after, silence when they disagree.
When national icons are treated as tools instead of treasures, it sends a chilling message: Your legacy belongs to us, not you.
6. Honour Looks Like Respect — Not Branding
Want to honour sunil Chhetri?
Name stadiums after him
Invest in grassroots football
Build leagues, academies, futures
Don’t turn him into a walking billboard so someone else can steal the spotlight.
Conclusion: This Was Disgraceful. Full Stop.
sunil Chhetri deserved applause, not appropriation.
Legacy, not logos.
Respect, not reduction.
Using the greatest footballer india has ever produced as a political advertising board is not celebration — it is exploitation. And no amount of slogans can cover up that shame.
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