The Third Wave_ A Volunteer Story - Alison Thompson [58]
We started out by visiting the heads of the Sri Lankan Soccer Federation and FIFA, the international soccer governing association, in Colombo to get the go-ahead for the match. The officials looked at Oscar as if he had two heads when he proposed his idea, but he kept insisting, and they gave their consent. Oscar then visited the players’ homes to gain permission from their parents to come on the trip. He lined up everything on our end.
But two major obstacles still lay ahead, and they required us to fly up to the front lines of the war zone. First, we had to get the support of the Sri Lankan military commanders in the region. Second, we had to meet with Tamil Tiger leaders to ask if we could play a match against them on their territory.
We flew into the Sri Lankan Air Force base in Jaffna. An Army captain we had known from Galle who was now stationed there picked us up. We jumped into his jeep filled with snipers carrying submachine guns and drove through deserted war zones to an Army base. There, a Sri Lankan Army general met with us to discuss the soccer match. The general was excited about the game’s potential to build goodwill, but he wanted us to hold the game on the Army base. He thought it would be too dangerous for us to play on Tamil territory, as anyone in the crowd could start throwing grenades at any moment.
Oscar agreed to have his Galle team play one soccer match against the Army team on the Army base there in Jaffna. However, he insisted that his team also be permitted to play a game against the Tamil team on Tamil terroritory, presuming we could get the okay from the Tamil leaders. After a great deal of discussion, the general reluctantly conceded to Oscar’s plan. However, he made it clear that his men would not be responsible for our safety when we crossed enemy lines.
With that approval out of the way, we went to meet the Tamil Tiger terrorists to arrange the game against their team. The Army escorted us to a hotel in Jaffna, where we hung around for hours waiting for some sort of contact. Finally, a group of official-looking men in white shirts and ties showed up. We sat drinking tea and discussing the game. They spoke with one another and made phone calls, clearly assessing us all the while.
Then, in a quick turn of events, the men urged us to follow them to their van and we obeyed. Looking back, we were extremely foolish to go with them. It was the equivalent of an unplanned meeting with al-Qaeda. But we had no agenda other than to play soccer, so we felt no fear.
We traveled a long way with the Tamils, passing through many Sri Lankan Army checkpoints. At each stop, the van was thoroughly searched. I observed that some of the men who were traveling with us had missing arms or legs and bullet scars on exposed body parts. Eventually we came to a Tamil Tiger checkpoint. After the van had been searched once more, the driver pulled up to the back of a house. The men instructed us to leave our bags in the vehicle and follow them. Men with Uzi submachine guns surrounded us as we walked out into the middle of a green field to a large, shady tree. Under the tree sat two nicely dressed, athletic men with 9mm guns tied around their waists, surrounded by men with even larger guns.
The well-dressed gentlemen invited us to sit down, and the soccer discussions began again. The Tamil Tigers’ main concern was that the Sri Lankan Army should stay away. After three hours of discussion, we agreed to trust the Tamil leaders’ word that they wouldn’t interfere with the game or with our players if we arrived for the match unprotected. We rose and shook firm hands, and the van raced us back to Jaffna before nightfall.
We visited the Sri Lankan Army general the next day and told him the news: Our Galle team would play a match in Tamil territory against a Tamil team with no Army presence. The general agreed to stay away, but hinted that he would have an undercover unit hiding somewhere