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On a warm Sunday in early June, the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, was alive with cheers of passionate fans, all rallying for their favorite team competing in the UEFA Champions League final. It was an exciting match between the English club Manchester City and the Italian club Inter Milan. Being present at the stadium, I could hear the screaming and shouting of excited fans. Despite that, I wasn’t able to watch the actual game. I will tell you the reason later. For now, let’s break down what happened at the game. In an intense match, Manchester City triumphed, securing a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan. Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, popularly known as Rodri’s goal, secured a hard-fought victory for Manchester City. With this remarkable achievement, Manchester City now claims the title of European football champions, adding to their previous Premier League and FA Cup conquests. Manchester City rightfully became the biggest football brand in the world. A team that had recently acquired a similar feat was Real Madrid. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium is Turkey’s largest sports arena in terms of capacity and it also holds a distinguished position as the country’s prime football venue. The stadium can accommodate a staggering 76,761 spectators and it has been awarded a prestigious five-star sporting complex rating by UEFA. The name of the stadium pays tribute to the esteemed Turkish field marshal Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. I was at the game as I am working for one of the biggest catering companies, DO & CO, an Austrian company. Apart from airline catering, running restaurants, lounges and hotels, DO & CO also caters for international events such as the Champions League final. Here, I was leading a team that was responsible for providing food to esteemed guests and dignitaries, including the head of UEFA, FIFA among others. DO & CO mobilized 12 thousand staff members for this one-day event. This included all department heads and the best human resources available to cater for the event. My role is to work in a team with all stakeholders in approving the menu to prepare the plate. On this day, I was assigned to the VVIP section. I can’t disclose the names of people we catered to but I can say there were a good number of leaders from various political, social, economic, and sports backgrounds. The Champions League final is one of the biggest football events in Europe and the excitement was obviously palpable. Now let’s talk about the food. People are very curious about the food habits of celebrities. Working with celebrities and the rich for a long time has helped me realize that simple is the best. When people become so rich that they have access to everything they want, they eat simple food with good ingredients. At this event, our menu gave importance to comfort food. We cooked food which had nostalgic and sentimental value to the teams. The food had to be simple to prepare with a high caloric value and carbohydrate level. As the brief was nostalgia specific to a team or a specific culture, I cooked chicken tikka masala, pilau rice, seven spice infused oven-baked cauliflower and some green beans with cucumber ‘raita’ and ‘papadum’ that is classic in the UK. The guests loved this British classic, also one of the nation’s favorite dishes. It proved to be quite a sensation. It was served along with fish and chips and pie as snacks. For VVIP guests, one of the dishes we prepared was Thai vegetable curry—a simple but very tasty Asian-style curry. The curry was a mix of mild coconut and citrus curry, lemon grass, kaffir lime, fresh cilantro with mango tout (peas), peppers, chilies, red and spring onions, served with jasmine rice, sesame seeds, and a slice of lime. Bear in mind that in massive events such as this, food has to be easy to serve as well as eat because we have a short window of time to serve 14000 guests while the guests have a short time to eat the meal. For better management, we divided meals prepared into three categories—pre-match, half-time, and post-match. Pre-match is when everyone has time to spare so we serve a four-course menu including canapés, starter/appetizer, main course, and dessert. That’s when I prepared tikka masala. As a vegetarian option, Thai vegetable curry, a British pub favorite, was made into a vegan-friendly option to follow the current trend. During half-time, we served fish and chips, the national dish of the UK while there was arancini for vegetarians. Post-match, we served the great British classic Shepherd pie and mushroom pie for vegetarians. We also cooked vegan curry and jasmine rice to ensure our vegan guests also had a delectable meal option. Other team members also cooked Italian pasta, risotto, arancini, and gnocchi. The local team members were assigned to focus on local food. They mainly cooked Turkish mezze and braised lamb. We tried to make the meals simple, light, fresh, and healthy. We also used local produce as much as possible because we believe sustainability is key. We also practiced reducing wastage by separating recyclable and non-recyclable wastes. Not only this, the team also tried to recruit and train locals to deliver the team’s standard of service and cooking. We cooked up to 700 items on the final match day. But what bound our elaborate menu was simplicity. Akbar Al Baker, the Group CEO of Qatar Airways and the Chairman of Qatar Tourism once said to me, “to impress people with food, go to the basics”. According to him, more people crave simpler food. The rich and famous also prefer wholesome nourishing food with the option of light, fresh, and healthy vegetables. When I sat back after the day, I had a realization. Football is a game that brings together people from around the world. Massive infrastructures are made, developed, and constantly improved for this particular game. That means football lovers spend money on traveling, eating, drinking, and living. This creates a lot of job opportunities for many, including chefs like me. So, I believe football is both an emotion for millions of fans around the world and a Mecca of good opportunities.

If nothing else, the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government has won acclaim for its anti-corruption stance. It started with the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal, in which several high-profile politicians, their relatives and government officials have been arrested. Balkrishna Khand of Nepali Congress and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi of CPN-UML are among the well-known figures who have been jailed for their alleged involvement in the case.  Senior politicians, government ministers and top bureaucrats getting arrested, let alone investigated for any wrongdoing was unheard of in Nepal. Next came the reopening of the Lalita Niwas land grab case, in which a large government-owned land, just next to the Prime Minister’s official residence, was transferred and transacted as private plots with the involvement of former government ministers, bureaucrats and businesspersons. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has already arrested several individuals including Min Bahadur Gurung, the owner of Bhatbhateni supermarket chain, for land misappropriation. The CIB action move follows the green signal from Prime Minister Dahal, who has hinted that his government would indiscriminately crack down on corruption cases, no matter who is involved. There are many corruption cases, mainly after 1990, on which there has not been any investigation. The probe into Bhutanese refugee scandal and the arrest of senior politicians and top bureaucrats give the impression that Dahal really means business. But some observers say while the Dahal government has taken a praiseworthy step to probe and prosecute corruption cases, one cannot help but suspect his intention. In the fake refugee scandal and the Lalita Niwas land grab incident, most of the accused who have been arrested or are under investigation are not directly linked to his party. Is Prime Minister Dahal serious about stamping out corruption, or just employing vindictive politics for his political gain? Observers say while Dahal might be the prime minister, the fact remains that his party is the third largest party in Parliament, and he needs a bargain chip in order to secure his post. In the Lalita Niwas land grab incident, names of two former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai have been linked. Nepal’s party, CPN (Unified Socialist), is a partner in the current ruling coalition, while Bhattarai is a former Maoist party leader. As the CIB pursues its investigation, there is a chance that several other big leaders could be arrested. Senior journalist Hari Bahadur Thapa says while it is a good beginning that the government is finally serious about taming corruption and investigating old cases that were mothballed with consensus among major political parties, it is yet to be seen how these cases will conclude. True, the anti-corruption campaign of the Dahal government has been lauded by the media and general public, but the move has also rattled the major political parties like the NC and UML. It could easily upset the current political power sharing deal. The Rastriya Swatantra Party, which is poised to become a major political force in the future, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which is undergoing something of a revival, are the only parties that have clearly supported the government’s position on corruption. One could argue that Prime Minister Dahal and his party is trying to appeal to the RSP and RPP supporters in view of the next general elections. Thapa says rather than offering immature praise to Prime Minister Dahal and his government, it will do well to look at the current development with a critical lens. He says the general public must be cautious, as Dahal could weaponize the high-profile corruption scandals for his own political advantage. It is crucial that the media and civil society continue to exert pressure on the government to conclude its investigations into all corruption cases, without fear or favor. Thapa says it is worthwhile to remember that there are corruption cases related to the Maoist party as well, including the one related to the People’s Liberation Army cantonment. So far, there has been no investigation into those cases. Khem Raj Nepal, former government secretary, says the support and appreciation that the Dahal government has won with the investigation of fake refugee scam may have prompted the government to look into more cases related to corruption. He is of the view that even if Prime Minister Dahal intends to take a political benefit by investigating corruption cases involving high-profile individuals not associated with his party, it will no doubt help the country by discouraging corruption. At this moment, everything hinges upon Prime Minister Dahal. He must prove that he is a man of his word.