African footballers bring joy to cyclone-battered Bengal Mousuni Island

MOUSUNI ISLAND (SOUTH 24 PARGANAS): The afternoon sun hung low over the Khasmahal ground in southern Bengal's Mousuni, casting long shadows across the freshly chalked sidelines. Vendors moved through the crowd, balancing trays of puffed rice and tamarind water. On the pitch, the ball darted from foot to foot with the rhythm of a heartbeat. In the thick of it was Tinni Aziz from Niger. With a deft flick, he spun past a defender, his movements as fluid as the tides surrounding Mousuni, one of the remotest permanently inhabited islands of the Sundarbans delta, nearly 200km south of Kolkata, reports Sudipto Das.

The crowd roared in unison as he sent a perfect through ball to Issiaka Kwasi from Ivory Coast, who weaved through two defenders with dazzling footwork before firing a low, curling shot into the corner of the net. The goalkeeper's dive came a second too late.

The match wasn't just a game on this isolated island in the Bay of Bengal. It was a rare moment of joyful reprieve from the rising tides, eroding shores, and devastating cyclones.

Mousuni recently came alive with the cheers of football fans as it hosted a three-day, nine-a-side football tournament featuring 33 players from African nations such as Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, and Niger.

Some have ventured into the hinterlands lately. One in every four players in the Mousuni tournament was from Africa, underscoring the rising prominence of "khep" football - local tournaments where players are paid per match. The event, which concluded Sunday, featured 16 teams competing for a prize pool of Rs 2 lakh.

Mousuni, battered by cyclones like Bulbul (2019), Amphan (2020), and Yaas (2021), has faced severe challenges, including the destruction of its primary cash crop betel leaf and the relentless erosion of its coastline. Yet, the past two years have seen improved yields of paddy and betel leaf, allowing villagers to invest in organising the tournament.

"Out of the 16 teams, 13 belong to Mousuni, and the others were from the mainland," said Saral Das, an organizer and farmer who owns 13.5 bighas of land. "This year, Mousuni villagers have contributed substantial amounts of money to support the clubs," added Chayan Kumar Bhattacharya, another committee member.

Both Tinni and Issiaka played for Jai Maa Vishalakhhi, a team managed by betel leaf farmer Sagar Maity. "This year I hired three African players, including two strikers and a fullback," said Maity, whose team became one of the tournament's highlights.

Bablu Mondal, a farmer from Kusumtala village, formed Naba Football Sangha (NFT) this year and spent Rs 2.5 lakh on his team, including hiring four African players.

For Mousuni, where climate change is an everyday reality, football offered a brief but powerful escape for its residents - many of whom have faced displacement due to erosion, which has reduced the island's size to just 44sq km. While many younger villagers have migrated to other states for work, the event brought a welcome distraction and a sense of hope.