Sporting cancellations

Lives changed forever on March 15. Sport suddenly became inconsequential as people fought for their lives, emergency services responded to harrowing scenes, and the dead were mourned. Matches were cancelled across the country and there was an outpouring o

Bangladesh cricketers

‘‘The visuals we saw were straight out of a movie scene.’’

That chilling quote is how Bangladesh manager Khaled Mashud described the mayhem happening outside their bus as they sat 45 metres from the Masjid Al Noor when the shootings occurred. They had arrived for Friday prayers, the day before the third cricket test at Hagley Oval was due to start.

Had the 17 Bangladeshi players and support staff arrived at the mosque moments earlier they would have been inside when the gunman opened fire. Instead, they lay terrified on the floor of the bus for seven to eight minutes with their heads bowed in case they were identified and shot at.

Realising the shooter could inflict more damage if they were spotted, they made the collective decision to disembark and escape for Hagley Oval through South Hagley Park.

Arriving at the ground, the Bangladeshis were housed securely in a dressing room as they tried to comprehend what occurred and comfort each other. The test was cancelled a few hours later.

On Saturday morning, the time the test was set to begin, Bangladesh were travelling under police escort from their central city hotel to Christchurch Airport. They were led through the airport under police guard and left the country, arriving in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on Sunday morning (NZ time) completing a frightening and barely believable 48 hours.

‘‘On our way to the airport, we were telling each other that if things had gone wrong by even a little bit, it would have been our dead bodies, not us, going home,’’ opener Tamim Iqbal recounted. ‘‘It was just a matter of 30 seconds.’’

Football and futsal community rocked

New Zealand and Canterbury’s football and futsal (indoor football) scene were deeply impacted by the terror attack.

Goalkeeper Atta Elayyan, 33, who played 19 A internationals for the New Zealand Futsal Whites and was a stalwart of the Canterbury United Futsal Dragons, was shot while praying at the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Ave.

Tariq Omar, 24, a Christchurch United club member and junior coach, and Sayyad Milne, 14, a Cashmere High goalkeeper, also died, and were passionate footballers.

Kuwait-born Elayyan won two national league titles with Canterbury, and was named New Zealand Football’s futsal player of the year in 2014, not just for his ability but as much for his willingness to coach and assist other players and promote the game.

He was renowned for his gift of sharing knowledge and giving back to the sport. A day before the shootings, he’d picked up gear for the Christchurch Boys’ High futsal side he coached, his old school, and was set to take them to tomorrow’s national schools tournament in Wellington.

‘‘Atta was truly one of the best people you could meet or have the pleasure to be around,’’ Canterbury futsal coach Ronan Naicker said.

Not only a talented goalkeeper, Elayyan thrived off the court. He was chief executive and co-founder of app development company LWA Solutions, which provides mobile solutions for some of the biggest brands in New Zealand and the Middle East, including Microsoft, Trade Me, Silver Fern Farms, Ports of Auckland, MediaWorks, and Aramex.

A keen online gamer, who went under the alias ‘‘crazyarab’’, he had a brief stint as a professional Counter-Strike player, representing NewType – a New Zealand-based team that dominated the Oceania region – until concentrating on his career in 2008.

Crusaders name debate

There have been calls for the Crusaders, the most successful team in Super Rugby history with nine titles, to change their name in the wake of Friday’s heinous events.

The Crusades, which involved a series of conflicts between Christians and Muslims in the Mediterranean around 1000 years ago, are estimated to have resulted in between one and two million deaths. And the debate has been hot on social media with detractors arguing the rugby franchise’s name conjures up images of violence and has no place in today’s society.

Crusaders boss Colin Mansbridge said they would listen to feedback and consider dropping the name, but now wasn’t the appropriate time for that discussion. The club planned to consult with a variety of people, including the Muslim community before making a call.

‘‘For us, the Crusaders name is a reflection of the crusading spirit of this community. What we stand for is the opposite of what happened in Christchurch on Friday. Our crusade is one for peace, unity, inclusiveness and community spirit,’’ the club said in a statement.

Sport seemed trivial in the aftermath of Friday’s events and so it was an obvious decision to cancel the cricket test.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said it was not only inappropriate to play cricket but the the shootings would also be revolutionary for hosting international sport in New Zealand.

‘‘This will change the entire fabric of international sports hosting. I think everything changes now. We’ll certainly be having to look at our security in depth. I think the idea of New Zealand being a safe haven is gone now.’’