IF there was any illusion left anywhere about the apolitical nature of sports, it was finally snuffed out Tuesday in Pakistan when a gruop of unknown gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore for a test match with the Pakistani national team. Although no Sri Lankan team members were killed, five policemen did lose their lives and the future of international cricket on Pakistani soil was cast into doubt for the foreseeable future. News footage of the attack is chilling. The gunmen who were filmed were frighteningly relaxed and at ease throughout the attack, calmly leveling their guns at their all but defenseless targets and firing away. It is a miracle that none of the team was hit. What was hit, however, was the pride and the security of Pakistanis themselves, the economic benefits afforded by international cricket and the upcoming World Cup that was to be played partly in Pakistan and whatever faith the rest of the world had in Pakistan's ability to protect its own citizens. Politics has played a role in athletics since the infamous Berlin Olympics when African-American Jesse Owens decimated Hitler's theory of Aryan superiority by walking away with numerous track and field gold medals. The Soviet Union and its satellites clearly saw the political message inherent in winning athletic contests, making a fair and balanced scoring of gymnastics and other judged events impossible during the Cold War. And Beijing did not pour billions of dollars into securing and producing last year's summer Olympic games only because the Chinese like sports. Unfortunately, a love of sports by the general population in just about every country will always lend sporting events a political edge for those looking for one. The idea that one person or one group of people is representing an entire nation automatically imbues that competitor with a political meaning. The particular horror of the Lahore incident, however, is that the attack was made on the Sri Lankans but it is more than likely that its real target is Pakistan. Terrorists, as always, do their worst by targeting the innocent. __
