Passing a mic

BENGALURU: The right information can make a world of difference to someone battling COVID-19 right now. Recognising this, captain of the Indian men’s football team Sunil Chhetri, recently announced that he would be handing over his Twitter account – which has 1.6 million followers – to some “real-life heroes” in the coming weeks. The goal?

“There are many people out there who are doing the hard work of collating resources. But they don’t have the luxury of followers that I have. The least I could do right now is provide a platform to give the resources found by them better reach,” Chhetri tells CE.

The initiative kicked off on April 29, with the sportsman’s account being taken over by a city-based media professional, who then went on to share verified leads for emergency contacts for food, oxygen or medicines and so on. “We started with sharing information related to Bengaluru,” says Chhetri, who is also the captain of Bengaluru FC. He adds, “We’ve shortlisted 2-3 more such people, who will share information related to other cities soon.”

The spark for this initiative came to the 36-year-old, who himself recovered from a second bout of COVID-19 in March, during his current stay in a bio-bubble in Goa to train for the AFC Cup. Despite being in the safest of scenarios, one can’t turn a blind eye to the rest of India, says Chhetri solemnly. “The virus has hit home. My parents in Delhi and my mother-in-law, who is in Kolkata, have been infected. I thought of breaking the bubble and heading to Delhi. But my sister, who is there, reassured me that my parents are fine,” he says.

While donating to NGOs is one way to help with the health crisis, Chhetri says he wanted to do more. So a few days before announcing his initiative, Chhetri tracked down people to collaborate with and emphasises, “The hard work is all theirs. I just wanted to help spread it to more people.”

The footballer may be living within a bubble literally, but not figuratively. He spends an hour a day to keep himself updated of the Covid situation and acknowledges that his current arrangement is one of privilege. “I have a biased opinion towards sports and think that some might find live scores soothing, especially in these times. But I also respect people who think live tournaments should not take place at the moment. It’s a fair sentiment to have,” he says.

Pitching in 
The idea came to the footballer during his current stay in a bio-bubble in Goa.  “Despite being in the safest of scenarios, one can’t turn a blind eye to the rest of India,” he says. 

Goal to help
While Chhetri’s Twitter is currently being used to share verified leads related to Bengaluru, in the coming days, resources for other cities will be amplified too.