The Mystery of the Disappearing Sri Lankan National Handball Team

In 2004, 23 Sri Lankan men traveled to Germany as the Sri Lankan National Handball Team to take part in an international tournament. But there was one catch, there was no Sri Lankan National Handball Team. And to make things weirder — all 23 men disappeared. A mystery was born in Germany that day.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hello Elizabeth Dutton?

Speaker 3 (00:05):
Hello is there Burnette.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
I've got a question for you, Yes, sir, all right,
so you got a second? I do okay? Cool? Do
you It was ridiculous?

Speaker 3 (00:11):
I do you go first? I do cola chop?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
What?

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Cola chip?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
What?

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Excuse me?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Am, I having a stroke?

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Excuse me? Would you call me? Do you like hot dogs?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yes? I do like it?

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Do you like pepsi cola?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
I know what it is?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
It tastes like aluminum.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah. I'm from Georgia, Atlanta, specifically, I'm a coke person, ma'am.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah. Well, Pepsi and ketchup got together, oh lord, apparently
at the Culinary Institute of America consulting, and they came
up with this, this blend. They invented Pepsi Cola chop.
What to reinforce just how well hot dogs and pepsi
go together, An unapologetically mouthwatering creation that seamless emerges a

(00:56):
condiment with the ultimate hot dog pairing beverage, delivering a
unified taste experience. That's courtesy of Jenny Danzy, senior director
at Pepsi.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Oh. Jenny David came in why do you have to
do this to be?

Speaker 3 (01:09):
J came in from the CIA Consulting said the concept
is both simple and creative. The distinctive flavors and vibrant
citrus blend of pepsi enhances the bright and tangy characteristics
of ketchup, off setting the smokiness about that.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
I don't think if pepsi I was gonna say that,
that's really odd. I would have never ever associated pepsi.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
I suppose it's like when you sprinkle lemon on something
to brighten the flavor. He's saying it brightens the flavor
of ketchup.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Okay, I think mustard does that. No, for real, Like
you put mustard and ketchup together on a hot dog.
That is a perfect flavor combination when in your mashup language. Yes,
And I don't know, you don't even need to make
a mashup because we all know it. It's tastes like summer.
It's unbelievable. And what do they go, you know what,
get rid of the mustard.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Throw and they're like eating a hot dog with mustard
on and they spilled a pepsi on it. Well, anyway,
Joanna the Great from Instagram was apparently the first one.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Through the gate with this or she tried this.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
No, no, no, she alerted us, and then like ten
minutes later, dozens of scores, real scores, and scores of
messages emails, what have you came through telling us about
this pepsi ketchup?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
How come nobody sends me stuff to just go? You
know what, This is not a mashup. Here's an anti mashup. Here.
They took two things and they pulled them apart.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Because I think we can split our audience into the
two groups, like the ones who love that I get
to torture you to lighten the weirdness of it, and
then those who don't like fun me. Yeah, now I
will say there's another listener, Brandy, who on Twitter was
telling me that she's going to try it, take it,

(02:51):
take one for the team. Here's the thing though, speaking
of teams, this is limited, Like you can't just go
to the store and get this.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Oh thank god.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, So it's only out for a limited time and
on the fourth of July. Now I'm gonna I'm gonna
give a little bit of like how the sausage is
made here. Nope, pun intent. We don't record these right,
like right the day before the day before they so
they're done like what a week and a half or
something like that. So anyway, Brandy is going to the

(03:21):
Detroit Tigers game on July fourth, so that will have
already happened by the time people here.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Well, hopefully Brandy gives us an update.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
I told her. Okay, so it's only at Forced stadiums,
Chase Field and Phoenix, Arizona, Yankee Stadium in the Brax
target Field in Minneapolis, and then co America in Detroit.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
I hate all these names. I know baseball field have
amazing names.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
How rad is a Detroit Tigers game on the fourth
of July. That sounds super fun. So anyway, she's going.
She said that she was going to try it, and
I told her to take a voice memo of her
eating it, not like the chewing sounds, but like her reaction.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Tell me how it is in Tiger Stadium.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, so I'm hoping if if things go well, we'll
have that recording. If not, then everyone knows that Brandy
let us down.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
That's ridiculous.

Speaker 4 (04:09):
This just in.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
This is Brandy Rebeccy trying me at PEPSI ketchup or
what do we call it kola chup.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Cheer.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
Okay, well, it's not that bad. I would give it
a solid seven out of ten.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
I would actually probably buy this, So you guys should
definitely try to be get a chance.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's entire goblin. If you got a say I got
one for you. You said you had a second, So
sit back down.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
So much time, all right.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
I love the story, Elizabeth. I can't wait to tell
it to you because these are my kind of people. Yes,
oh yeah, yeah. This is a bunch of Srilankans who
wanted for a better life and now they had few
options on their island. So what do they do? Elizabeth?
They banded together like Robin Hood and his merry men,
and they hatched a plot to use the world of
international sports to get free. Just like Michael Jordan, they decided,

(05:00):
let's just do it now. What was their plan? Great question, Elizabeth,
I really thank you for asking problem. I like this
energy your prayers. Their plan was they'd become star athletes
for the Sri Lankan national handball team.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
Okay, yeah, okay.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
This is a ridiculous crime A podcast about absurd and
outrageous capers, heists and cons. It's all with ninety nine
percent murder free and one percent ridiculous. Okay, ridiculous, Elizabeth, Yes,
I got a question for you.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
So phone calls you remember those?

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Avoid them.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
They would call you, the phone would ring, and you're like,
what is my text machine doing? Right? So this story
starts with a series of phone calls. Now do you
We both talk to our mothers every day on the phone.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Correct?

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, So that's the only person I pretty much talked
to on the phone. Honestly, if my phone rings, I'm like, oh,
it's my mother because no one else calls.

Speaker 3 (06:16):
Talk to my brother all the time on the phone.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Oh yeah, that's right, you talk to your brother.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
So those two I talk, everyone else needs to text
me first, and even then I'll say I'm busy, and
then people at work text me like, hey, got a
second They're like, oh, yes.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Were you ever when you were younger and you were
like more phone ready, were you ever involved like phone
circles where you would call someone and they would call someone,
or like you were like i'all get on a group
line together or anything like that.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
I never did the group line thing, but you know,
we used to in college. We used to call around
and tell people when parties were going to be, or
like you'd have to call in remotely to your answering machine.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
Oh yeah, and then you have code yeah, and then
they would play your messages for you. Yeah, the warors
were great.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Party with the swim team tonight, see that about it.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
So yeah, that's that's how this story starts. Is basically
that energy. This is the stories couldn't have occurred without
the telephone. Yeah. I mean, it's just like you can
feel it popping, right, and it's just the year was
two thousand and two, right, So the location, as I
said Sri Lanka, the group of twenty something men had
all reached out and touched someone, right. Oh sorry, that
sounds weird now. At and T used to have that

(07:23):
as their slogan, reach out and touch someone exactly such
different times, you know. But anyway, this group of twenty
something men, they get a phone circle going right, and
one guy calls another, and that guy calls the next guy,
and so it went. The word spreads around.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Tree launch tree I think they call it.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah. I was thinking of that as like with politics,
and like, oh, we're gonna like, you know, the neighbor
going to get together phone circles. I think it's like,
you know, it's a community phone tree is like, you're
branching out right, That's just my thing. I don't know.
I'm just going with the analogies anyway. So their plan
was put out there for all the interested parties. Okay,
So this one cat Rupa Singe, I'm apologies if I'm

(07:57):
mispronouncing that twenty three year old cat. He lived in
Sri Lanka and he actually spoke with somebody I know.
Oh yeah, a reporter from now defunct Mel magazine. My dude,
Andrew Fiosih.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
Went out for Mel magazine, oh for real as well.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Andrew was writing from Ellen. He went out. He reached
out to this dude, Rupe Singe, and he he says, like, dude,
tell me the story of what went down with this,
and rup Sinka's like, okay, man, here's how it went.
I get the call. I thought it was a put on, right,
And this is not a direct quote but a paraphrasing.
And he's like, but he kept hearing about this story
of like, oh yeah, we're gonna create this. You know,
Sri Lankan national handball team and all these guys were excited.

(08:35):
He's like, why do we care? And he just kept
thinking that it couldn't be true. But then he decided,
you know what, tell me more anyway, you called me,
you think I'm good, I'm a prospect for the national
handball team. Why. So he's like, is he told Andrew
and I quote? Of course I wanted to go, right,
He's like, you know, if you were a young man
and all your buddies are gonna do this, You're like, yeah,
tell me more. So this guy's no fly by night person.

(08:57):
So he hears about this handball team, and he hears
that the real plan is to take the team and
be able to travel out of Sri Lanka. They're going
to get off the island. They're going to be invited
to tournaments around the world. And he's like, okay, but
he's a little worried about this, like, you know, escaping
Sri Lanka via a handball team, because he's had family
leave Sri Lanka before and when they did it, they

(09:19):
did things like, you know, they took a container on
a container ship filled with people and then went off
to Italy. Yeah, exactly, like the brutal ways of total
dangerous passage. So Rupaesenk is like, that's how my relatives
got to Italy, not legally but via boat and container.
LORI right, He's like, I want to do it legally,
So what's the story here? So what's his thinking of
when his friends tell him about this plan is his families.

(09:42):
He's like, all right, but I do want to get
off the island. So he goes. His friend's like, you know,
have you ever heard about this game handball? He's like, yeah,
I mean I don't know handball kind of. I don't
really know what I.

Speaker 3 (09:50):
Was going to ask you. Is it like oh, they're
just like a hand of guys who play handball together
and like we should make a national team or this is.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
Not it's not quite Have you ever heard of hands?
Do you know what the game is?

Speaker 3 (10:01):
I was going to ask you because I know it's
against a backstop? Right? No? Oh see, I thought it
was like.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yes, you threw the games called handball.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
Oh so this is not that one that was okay?

Speaker 2 (10:12):
Okay, For one, it's an Olympic sport.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
Do you use your hand like a paddle?

Speaker 2 (10:17):
No? Yeah, we're all out build on this one. So
as American, there's no experience about this right, it's an
Olympic sport, as I said, Oh really, I didn't know.
I had no idea. I mean, I watched the Olympics.
I've never seen ball.

Speaker 3 (10:28):
What plays it? Like two in the morning, I guess.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
But it turns out it seems like everything's inn Olympic
sport these days. I mean, like snowboard, snow motocross or whatever. Baking, baking,
baking with bacon, I got a gold. So handball was
not a recent addition. It was practically an og Olympic sport.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Really, and it's not thrown against the backtop. When what
do you do, Well, I'll get to that hand.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Wouldn't that be fun? You have to hit a hand
with a ball to throw the hand up like tag
it Jimmy. No. So it was first played in the
nineteen thirty six Lynn Summer Olympics, right, which was, to
put it mildly or rather historic Olympics. So hampball was
not played again at.

Speaker 3 (11:06):
The by Hitler.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
No, okay, good cats. It was not played at the
next Olympic Games, nor the subsequent games, nor the games
following those. In fact, hampbell wasn't played at the Olympics
again until nineteen seventy two, which were the Summer Games
in Munich. Boom wow another mild to put it mildly,
another historic Olympic games. So not coincidentally, both times that

(11:29):
hamball was played at the Olympics was when the games
were held in Germany. So why was that? Well, Elizabeth,
you guessed it not Hitler, but it was invented by Germans.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
Oh okay, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
Something that's very important to keep in mind as I'm
talking about this. This is a German sport. Keep that in
mind at every turn. Right, it was invented by German cats.
They published the rules to their new game in nineteen seventeen.
It was go go time. Right. It was like, oh, everything.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
Listening it was nineteen seventeen was a go go time.
Well I in Germany?

Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, no, it was little. They were still like, you know,
like the y Mari we public. It was still like
you know, I'm just saying. It was like radios and airplanes.
Everything new was coming into being. People were, you know,
going across the continents and record times. They were like,
it's the people were connecting. Radio was you know, stitching
the world together, and handball was right there, Elizabeth, part

(12:17):
of that wave anyway, back to old Alamannia. Right, So
the German sport inventors they get busy. In nineteen seventeen
they did the first professional handball game, and we now
have professional handball boom it exists now, being those invented
by Germans. The rules to the game were modified a
few times, and so within two years of being published
they had new rules. So they said, in the very
German way, we have found of it. It's the Mexic.

(12:39):
The game bets us, so we are going to do
this is the new rules. Yeah, more fun, prog Cubic
into the game.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Now, now this sausage exactly.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
So the first international handball games were held in nineteen
twenty five. Now we are getting closer to the go
go Germany that.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
We were talking about before. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
So the opponents were Germany and Belgium. Right, So the
Belgians were the first people besides Germans who could they
could convince to play their new weird game. After that
came the Austrians. So the Austrians are like, yeah, we
will play as two all right. So they're playing right,
So we have the first handball competition for both men
and women. The year nineteen thirty getting dicey, and then
there's another big world stage debut at the nineteen thirty

(13:15):
six Olympic Games. It's now completely come together, and then
nothing until tineteen seventy two the Germans host the games again.

Speaker 3 (13:22):
I got swatted on the nose.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, and then nothing again. Handball disappears, right, so only
the Germans can get it into the Olympics. Right, So
it's not like, you know, this is not the no
one's taking on their new game. Yeah, and this isn't
like a you know, there's a game like okay highlight.
Highlight is a game how people don't get involved because
the ball can kill you.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah, the ball's moving so fast and they can talk
like yeah, it's.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Up like one hundred and forty hundred and fifty miles
an hour. Right, So so people are like, no, I'm
not going to go down to my athletic club and
just get dropped by my buddy because I missed a
wicked serf. Like that's why the highlight is not popularized.
Why is handball being popularized.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
It's because you I still don't know how you play it.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
I know they get to that. So Elizabeth, he may
be like me, wondering what the hell is this handball?
So when I was reading about it, I was picturing
it like you know, New York street kids or playing
playing this game between the world wars. Right, That's how
I was picturing it. And then I was like, well,
I also remember what you remember, which is there's the
wall game, but that's called wallball in California and then

(14:19):
Pogo and other places. Right, So handball, as I said earlier,
a sport invented by my people. And by my people
I mean sid Germans, because like I know, I shouldn't
be smirked the whole country by saying, oh, my people, right,
because they don't need that. But I mean there's nothing
they can do about it. I'm not claiming Germany. I
have German ancestors, so deal with it, Alamannia. But anyway,

(14:40):
so I'm speaking about this from inside the family. That's
what I'm trying to say. As I tease the Germans,
just know that I'm teasing myself exactly.

Speaker 4 (14:48):
Now.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
I have my friend, I think I've mentioned on the
show before, my German friend. I call him that because
his mother is German, and I always tell him like
his house was like an outpost of Germany, like you
would go to visit that and was like, oh, you've
been gone into like the embassy.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
I have it. I have a German friend whose mother
is German, and he actually read on the Eyeball episode.
He read all the crazy names for us.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yes, that's my friend's brother.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
No goodness, yeah you're making that.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah no, don't don't even why. But uh so I
tease this guy, I tell you, tell him that I'm
more German than he is, and he's like, how can
that be? My mom is German. I'm like, yeah, but
I have the attitude I'm more German than you are, right.
So I also telling my more Irish than he is,
and his parents are only German and Irish, so it's like,
how can he be both more than my parents. I'm like, look,
I just got more energy. I don't have to tell
you anyway. My point is that the Germans, right, and Hi, Derek,

(15:35):
as I'm teasing my fam, just keep that in mind. Okay,
back to handball. Why is this it's German sport? Well,
the very simple rules and the very clear rules. The
court is one hundred and thirty one feet long by
sixty six feet wide. One yeah, but you're wondering why
these numbers sound odd. One sixty six feet wide, but
that's that's weird counted out in feet. But since Germany's

(15:57):
they use eizabeth so the count size makes way more
sense when you say forty meters by twenty meters and
it makes okay. So in other words, it's a two
by one wreckchang.

Speaker 5 (16:06):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
So at each end there's a goal, just like soccer
and hockey. There's a goalkeeper, right, good, so far right.
You're wondering where's the handball all this? So it's a
team sport handy. It's a team spar There are two teams,
the Fondler and the fonder League. So each team has
seven players. So that's six players in the field, one goalie. Okay,
you're able to picture it.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
Yeah, okay.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
Now the handball gets passed between players hand a hand hat.

Speaker 5 (16:31):
No.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
A player can take three steps or strides or lopes
or what have you, and then they have to pass
the ball. And to do that they have to like
kind of basically they can either toss it, they can
hit it. They can push it, but they can they
can spin and pair out their bodies and then like
try to like alley up it to somebody. They do
all sorts of stuff. It's like apparently like ballet and
hockey had a German baby, right, okay, yeah, goalie spinning

(16:55):
and lots of jumping and like kind.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
Of soccer is. And also it's like part egg race
where you put the egg in the.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Bounce on your hand.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:04):
So the game lasts an hour. There are two thirty
minute halves. Whoever scores more goals wins. And this is
where it gets interesting and very German. The goals are
scored by a player outside the zone while the player
dives into the zone. And then there's a variant of
the game called checkhandball and I don't know why, but
that just sounds even wilder I mean anyway, So generally speaking,
the game is fast, it's high scoring. Compared to other
games with goalies, it's much more scoring. Game regularly sees

(17:26):
team score twenty thirty forty fifty goals. Oh yeah, nothing
like soccer. The ground ball could do whatever it wants you.
You can get sentience, it can bounce around. I guess
the whole point is you have to keep it by
passing it around from hand to hand. So the players
can't hold the ball for too long. That's the whole point.
Smack it back and forth to each other, hit it
out of the air, knock it down, spike, I don't know, right,

(17:48):
So for Americans like me, the Germans also included some
violence and some full body contact, so defending players can
smash into offensive players to keep them away from the goal.
So guys they're diving into the zone, somebody can smash
of them. This is also there's no protective equipment required,
just hands and balls. So, as I said, it's it's

(18:10):
a very it's an interesting game, it's a competitive tand sport.
It's becoming more and more popular every time. As the guy.
So anyway, it's played in Asia, North Africa, South America
as well as Europe. It's been spreading and this is
what gave the Sri Lankans the idea they could be
invited to a handball tournament in Europe.

Speaker 3 (18:26):
Meanwhile, America pickleball exactly.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
So let's take a little break and then I will
take Sri Lanka and bring them to Europe and let
the chaos in two. All right, Elizabeth, we're back, are

(18:56):
oh really? O'Reilly? Auto parts? Now this Treelonkins. They were
keen on getting invited to a handball tournament in Europe.
I told you that's their goal, right, that could be
their way out.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
Of Alma too.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
There's one problem for the Sri Lankan and hopeful though.
They were as good at handball as I am, and
I learned about it four days ago. So yeah, so
what they did on their side, what they have on
their side though, was that one of my favorite qualities
in life grit mocks. So they were like, look, we're
gonna just make this happen, and they did so. I
told you, I like these people. They're my people, are

(19:28):
my kind of people, I should say the Germans on
my people. Now. What I like about this story, though,
is that the Tri Lankas are willing to do the
basics of what is necessary to pull off a con
job like this. Nice yeah it in Millie Mouth and
like Ham and Haw, they said, what are the fundamentals
are pulling this off? And they got down to it.
For one, they hired a professional handball coach. Okay, got
to learn the game. I mean, you need to know

(19:50):
the game, right. So then they get to work learning
how the hell this new game is played like how
they can score and hit each other and dive into
the zone.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Right, I love the zone just makes me think of
like some militarized.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Zone and an active shooter razer. Yeah, exactly. There's a
garden tower at either end of the field. So these
guys they get together, they're practicing and eventually, you know,
they start to gel as a team and they get
invited to play a friendly match against a bunch of
traveling Germans, the actual traveling national German handball teams. Yes,

(20:22):
so they're all excited that the Germans are gonna come
down to Sri Lanka, which they did. It sounds fun
good to their word. The matches gets play the amateurs,
they were not left off the field. You're going up
against the inventors of the game and their national team, right,
so this was to be expected that the German national
team would win. Nobody thought this. The Sri Lankans would
be that plucky, right, But the German officials were rather
kind in their assessment of the Sri Lankans gameplay. The

(20:44):
scoreboard not as kind. Scoreboard was thirty six to two.
Thirty six to two, Yeah, but that was good enough
to capture what the team was really after they didn't
get the w but they got an invitation to participate
in an international tournament a handball to him to be
held in Bavaria. Yes, so into Dita Daring. Right, Dieta

(21:05):
Daring was the cat who made all this happen. Right,
he was the German who tried to make handball happen
in Tri Lanka. It was like his fetch, alright, I'm
gonna make this happen anyway. He's a rather curious character
that theater. He's a former ping pong pro, which is
just fun to say, former ping pong pro.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
Former ping pong Procreas.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
Got kicked out of the game anyway, professional table tennis player,
even though he's up with Lance and he's like, give
me the clear, put it on my back anyway. Even
he goes from being a ping pong pro, he leads
his fellow Germans to glory on the national team as
a ping pong pro. They went a title with him
as captain. So the guys he's a champion, right, so Dieter.
Then he takes a trip and he pops down to

(21:43):
Sri Lanka. He wants to go get some son in
fun Relax, the year was nineteen eighty one, Elizabeth. He
shows he run.

Speaker 3 (21:48):
Into Duran Duran shooting the Rio video.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Good question. I have no answer for it.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
That's a good question.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
He shows up to Ri Lanka knows that Duran Duran insights.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
I don't think that was after eighty one.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
But anyway, he grabs this taxi. But this is not
a normal taxi, Elizabeth, is it? No, it's not even
like one of those like Indian taxis where it's all
like decorated anything, nothing, nothing like that.

Speaker 4 (22:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
I don't mean, like physically, it's not a normal taxi.
I mean the ride is not normal.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
It is.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
It's a life changing taxi. Oh yeah, step inside, take a.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
Ride, cash cab.

Speaker 2 (22:18):
The taxi will take him on a ten day tour
of the island. He's like, oh yeah, let's go on
a ten day tour of the island. Taxis is going
to like, you know, show him the sights, just he
and this driver. Could you imagine you and one person?

Speaker 3 (22:28):
I think actually people do that where they you know, get.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
A guide totally. But could you do that?

Speaker 3 (22:33):
No? No, I I guide myself, baby.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
I like that about you. So this cabby he's super
casual about spending ten days in a car with the
Germany he's never met, and he's like, Hey, do you
know if I we stop in my house, I want
to pick up some fresh clothes. And he's like, yeah, sure,
why don't we do that? And so he's he's trying to.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
Be chill're adventurous that way.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yeah, He's like, y'all do it.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
What do we need to strapped into his berks exactly
ready to go.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Super clean and everything, hair's all short. When they get there,
taxi drivers like, Heyboddy, you want some tea? Come on inside, right,
AND's like, yeah, let's do it, and so he goes
inside and he's stunned to spot all these trophies inside
inside is evidence of a world class ping pong champion.
What the what are the chances right now? So Dieter
gets super excited. He's like, yeah, who's the trophies of these?

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Right?

Speaker 2 (23:19):
And the guy was like, oh, I should have told you.
Uh my sister's like into stuff. You got the ping
pong stuff? You were like, He's like really yeah, So d'
just like there were all these table tennis trophies in
the house, asked him about some and the taxi driver
told me that was his sisters, and I was like,
can I meet your sister? I don't know why he
became austream when he gets warning, but yeah yeah, the

(23:40):
cabbiest chill about that too. He's like, yeah, yeah, sure
you can meet my sister Elizabeth.

Speaker 3 (23:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
The two hit it off.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
He was he was warm for her form.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
Dude, he was spitting for that kitten. I'm telling you,
I knew you're a fan of love stories, right, and
I wish I knew more to tell you. But the
gist is this Dieter and the sister table tennis champs meet,
they go out, they fall in love, theeter decides to
stay in Sri Lanka. Eight years later, he's the coach
of Sri Lanka's national table tennis team.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
Nice.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
So that's why he gets a very German idea. He's like,
why do we make sports to sing for people to
get together and meet? And baby, but you can have
more love stories like but not really, you just wanted
people to like meet, right sure? Yeah, So he's like,
I was start the government program to drink people here. Anyway,
he gets to Austrian again. I don't know, he talks
about government or women's Austrians. But anyway, so he gets
different countries to meet together and play sports. You know,

(24:30):
we already have something like that. I think he's called
the Olympics. Oh really, yeah, but he's like, no, I
want to smaller voss.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
I got really confused about the Olympics the other day
because there were ads. Well I was traveling for for
my other job, and that's the only time I watched
morning television.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
Oh yeah, and hotel time man, local news.

Speaker 3 (24:49):
Local news, and I'm like, I don't know where any
of these freeways are, but apparently they're Corota. They had
the Today Show on and I know those two gals.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
I don't know wh which ones were hot on there?

Speaker 3 (24:58):
Who knows? Sure all hoodas they were in Paris and
they're talking about the Olympics, and I was like, ladies,
it is an odd numbered year, and they kept talking
about it, and so then I told someone it was
the Olympics this summer and they were like, no, it's not.
But it's like it wasn't. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
I thought that because of COVID they threw off all
the schedules.

Speaker 3 (25:19):
I looked it up and apparently it's next year. But
I never understood.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
They were just there for the unveiling, like look at all.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
The progress, I guess, but whatever. It's in Paris, and
I'm super excited for the French opening ceremonies because they're
always just like, oh yeah, that was an important aside
about the Olympics. It was still like stuck on it.
I like that, did I imagine that they were not there?

Speaker 1 (25:39):
No? I don't know.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
I don't know how your imagination works.

Speaker 3 (25:41):
Weird.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
It's just a wild place in that scary parts of
it scare me.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
Yeah, our boy dita.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
He's like, I'm going to make a little mini Olympics
for like, you know, the the Leisia spots like ping
pong and handball, right, even the handball apparently it was
only in the Olympics when the Germans play. So he's like, okay,
because his point was this, when you put the gum
and puff, so with a doctorates against the Sri Lankan
fisherman on the ping pong table, the professional backgrounds disappear.
It's just about the spot, true, right, And I don't
know why the Sri Lanka has got to be the

(26:09):
fisherman and like the German gets the doctor Why can't
the Sri Lanka get the doctor anyway, I take his
point and it's a really good point. So he gets
his program going. Hundreds of tournaments occur, and not just
ping pong Elizabeth. He gets handball going because John Man,
so the Germans are always tying to convince others to play.
As I said, and in two thousand.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
A Sports colonists, Yes.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Colinis, I was an ambassador, but yeah, colonizer Sports gets
a phone call from the Vatican. He's like, how's the
colonization going. I'm kidding, I just want to see your
face change. He gets the call. He answers that tell
me about the ham do they prey down? So he
says that, uh, I know for some that they you know,

(26:50):
when the phone rings, they don't answer it. Well, he
answered it right, and a good thing he did, because
it was destiny. Yeah. So someone from the Sri Lankan
Sports ministry, they said they wanted to invite the German
national handball team to come down for attorney in Sri Lanka.
He's like, this is like right, I tell you, yeah,
let's do it. Once again excited Austrian. So anyway, a
little while later, Dieter he meets the Sri Lankan national

(27:10):
handball team. There were twenty three young men, all of
varying ages, but he knows there's something off about them, right.
Dieta is like, you know, no, detective, but he's like,
looking back, there was something suss right. He didn't know
quite what it was, so he just know it was
weird that they showed up wearing suits. He's like, normally
like athletes, they showed up like in tracksuits or as
the Euro's call them, like you know, trainers, or we
call them sneakers or Jordan's. He's like, no, I expected

(27:31):
that they showed up dressed to impress, like in the Nines.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Right, this little German fella got catfish, Yes he did so.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Being German and a huge fan of acting as an
ambassador slash colonizer of international sports, Deeter guaranteed that all
the paper would be in order for the twenty three
members of the Sri Lankan national handball team. He ensured
they had visas for all their travel because they would
be in Germany for ten game tournaments and they needed
two week visas. Boom taken care of. Dita tangled it right.
All now is set. The plan is in place, the
player is prepared. Now it's onto the big game. Cut

(28:00):
to Witslingen, Germany. It's a town in southern Germany, in Bavaria. Right,
the Sri Lankan national handball team arrives in this charming town.
They made it out of Sri Lanka, Elizabeth. They did it. Next,
they did what most of us would do. They went sightseeing. So,
as Rupa Singe recalled, we went sightseeing, We sang, we danced,
we had a great time. Right, so it is all
being joyous. They met the mayor of the town. They

(28:22):
were treated as honored guests. They took photos with people,
a dinner in the just the homes of random Germans.
Who's okay. So it was just a fantastic experience for them.

Speaker 3 (28:32):
Boom.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
Cut to the next day, Game day, Elizabeth. So what
do we think is gonna happen? How do you think
it went down? Sri Lankan?

Speaker 3 (28:38):
They won a million to one hundreds to zero.

Speaker 2 (28:43):
Very close.

Speaker 3 (28:43):
Yeah, I know it.

Speaker 2 (28:44):
The Sri Lankan national handball team competed as best they could,
but as one of the players remembered, we got hammered again.
So the Germans didn't laugh at us though. They compared
it to the early beginnings of German handball in nineteen hundred.
That's nice, right, that's like a German compliment. Do you'll
like us when we have babies? So what did the

(29:04):
opposing teams think? So TSV whitslinghen it's a pro handball
team from Bavaria. They were like, have they even played
the game before? So they were a little less kind, right,
so one player told the German media, they were so awful. Yeah,
they did not hold back. He wondered if they even
knew the rules of the game. Anyway, afterwards, none of
this seemed to matter because after they competed on the pitch,

(29:25):
they all had shared the bond of sports.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
Did the Sri Lankans wear their three piece suits?

Speaker 2 (29:30):
That would be amazing, just mismatched three piece suits, but.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
Like n in a nice knit fabric that's got some
good something to breathe. Yeah, like you would have like
an Adida's tracksuit but made into a suit.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
So I see, I actually want one of those.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
Anyway, So as Rupa Singa was was recalling the folks,
they had a great time afterwards. They all broke bread together.
They they have dinner, he said, quote, we had a
great time in this place, but he also said we
felt a bit sorry. We all planned go the next
day very early in the morning, right, So what do
I mean by go? Well, the next morning came very quickly.
I picture some of them in bed, eyes open, staring

(30:07):
up at the ceiling, checking their watches as those little
hours tick past. You know those ones that they like
like one, two, three, Right, So anyway, people.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
With hours on them, yes, exactly, as I just opposed
to watch.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
I hate those watches. I never know what time it is.
It it's between garfield and the top of the watch.
I don't know. Anyway, I bet they didn't sleep much
at all my point. So finally morning comes, dawn breaks.
It's that purple hour I love so much. It's when
I'm like, oh, it's time to go to sleep. Anyway,
it's time to move for them, time to go. So
tho is a bit. I'd like you to close your
eyes and picture it. You are a commemorative handball. You

(30:42):
were given out to each member of the competing teams
for this international tournament. You were stoked to be given
out to the Sri Lankan team. As you look forward
to relocating to somewhere warmer. You are over Germany. At dinner,
you were in the pocket of one of the players
from the Sri Lankan team. Den was a spirited affair.
Wine was poured and drunk. Meals were prepared and enjoyed.
Songs were songs, laughter shared. Now it is the quiet

(31:02):
hours of the early morning, those small hours that I
said before. At the moment, though, things are a buzz
in the hotel rooms of the Sri Lankan national handball team.
It's three am and you are being stuffed into a
duffel bag. You can hear the muffled sounds of conversation. Really,
it's more like whispers. Then the zipper sounds, hand reaches
and grabs you. You see for a second that the
hotel room is now somewhat filled with Sri Lanka handball players.

(31:22):
But then you were stuffed into a pocket. You assume
you're there for luck. Maybe a couple hours later, it's
five am. You're on the move. You hear a door
open and then shut. You hear footsteps, but they're quiet.
Then you go downstairs. Another door open, swings open and shuts.
You can hear a soft night breeze blowing through trees.
You must be outside. Then the hand reaches back into
the pocket where you've been and you pulled you out

(31:43):
into the crisp night air. You gaze around. There's the
whole Sri Lanka National handball team and they're whispering to
each other. You get rubbed for luck, over and over again.
Everyone is hushed but excited. Some small smiles, some worried looks.
A few goodbyes, but no wind focus exchange. This is
in case anyone gets caught. They can't put the others
at risk. Then, as if there were a silent signal,

(32:05):
the Sri Lankan National handball team fractures in the tiny parts,
pairs of just two and three guys, and they all
walk away. You are rubbed again for luck, and then
shoved back into the jacket pocket. You listen to the
rhythm of footsteps in the quiet night. A little while
later you hear a car engine idling, and then a
car door open slam shut. You're sure about that. Some
words are exchanged. You don't quite understand them. It's not German,
you only speak German. It sounds like maybe the English. Anyway,

(32:29):
the car engine roars of life. The ride is bumpy,
nightfully short. When the car stops, you hear cardoor open
and close again. Then the next sound you hear is
the orchestra of a train station coming to life in
the early hours of the morning. You think to yourself,
Oh goodie, I love a train ride. Now what you
don't know is you just absconded with the Sri Lankan
national handball team to points unknown. The whole team disappears

(32:51):
without a trace. Nice, yeah, Elizabeth, Well that's not exactly true.
The team did leave behind one trace. You don't know
about this because you're a handball but I'll tell you,
bitch is. At first, when the Sri Lankan national handball
team didn't come down for breakfast, their German hosts were like,
what's up? So they went and they checked on them,
like are everybody okay on there? And they get no answer.
They're like, oh, they must be out jogging. Oh is
that probably cross training? You know? So anyway, Elizabeth, I

(33:13):
will tell you this. They were neither jogging nor cross training.
So the mystery, though, was cleared up when the Germans
host went back to check on the nothing that can
we open these dolls? And so then they get inside,
making sure there wasn't like a gas leak of something. No,
sixteen players, eight trainers all gone. All that was left
behind was some dirty clothes, some old shoes, a sweaty
T shirt or too, and a note. The note thanked

(33:35):
the Germans for their abundant hospitality, the team appreciated their
kind offer to come to Germany, and then closing it
said we're going to France.

Speaker 3 (33:42):
Oh okay, and just like.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
That, the Sri Lankans are in the wind. So in
two thousand and four, fast you can say big in
the Stuttgart. The German press was all over the story,
and things just get weirder. After this break, I will
come back to tell you how international terrorism gets brought
into this.

Speaker 4 (33:59):
Oh goodness, all right, to Elizabeth, we're back, Yes, we

(34:22):
are all right, As I promised him.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
Hey, look at us, glad to be here. So I
promised you the German press. Yes, faster than you could say,
bigger than Stuttgart. They jumped on this bigger than that's
how fast, Elizabeth? Yes, do you see that lightning? Speak fast?
So the German ambassador to Sri Lanka had to get involved.
They told reporters that the twenty three fake handball players
and trainers were quote, they presented documents and the documents

(34:46):
looked all right, so there was no reasons to say
we can't give you a visa. So it's not my fault. Yeah,
but I like how the Germans focus on the correctness
of the paperwork. It was all in Olda. What's told
I duel? So you know, anyway, what is this at
this point? Two thousand and one?

Speaker 3 (35:01):
Okay, so two thousand and four. But so we have
like EU travel, I'm wondering, yea, anyway, go ahead, Well.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Yeah, there, yes, there is EU travel. I don't know
how that works. I assume the EU travel is if
you're allowed in Germany. If you try to go into
the Czech Republic, they're like, hey man, that was only
good for Germany because they will I'll tell you this much.
You try to go from Germany Czech Republic, they stop
the train and they make everybody show you like you
see your path pus Yeah, no, they really every time
I've ever done that. Then I traveled all over Europe

(35:28):
and train one place coming out of Germany going into
the Czech REBUBB, you're going to get stopped also Austria
to same thing with Austria in Switzerland. All of them
ones around, apparently Germany because they're wried about maybe migration.
I don't know because I have a tan. They're like,
let's see the march of Germans. Yes, yeah, exactly how
many Germans are on this train. The BBC reached out

(35:49):
to Tita Dooring and they asked him what went down,
because they're like, man, you made all this happen for
what we We've looked into the paper works from the
Germans and it all goes back to you. And so
he's forthcoming. He tells the BBC, we initially thought a
team had gotten lost in nearby woods while jogging, just
repeating what the Germans said. That same morning, he's like,
we now know this. They crossed into Italy. So he's
like all upset because he was kind of lied to.

(36:10):
The Sri Lankan authorities. They come for it and they
say their side of things. They are like the president
of the Sri Lankan Olympic Association because you know this
could have been Olympic sports, Like this is my purview,
let me jump in there. So he tells reporters, well,
the game is popular around the world. He was not
in Sri Lanka. So, as he put it, quote, we
don't even have a single club. It's just like, I
wash my hands of this whole affair.

Speaker 3 (36:31):
Fix me.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
So the Ministry of Youth Affairs in Sports, they get
drawn into it, right and they raise the questions of
why these fake Sri Lankan national handball team woud disappear
like that. They said, I don't know. The motives were unclear.
Could be political asylum, could be free immigration, I don't know.
People were like, oh, yeah, you know, maybe so as
they're starting to wonder, repeating what the president of the
Sri Lankan Olympic Association had to say, the official from
the Ministry of Youth Affairs in Sports said, hampball is

(36:54):
a sport very rarely played in Sri Lanka. In the
formation of a national teams a mystery.

Speaker 3 (36:59):
So refresh me because I'm not as geopolitically savvy as you.
So was there not free egress from Sri Lanka at
the time.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
No, it's just more so about the poverty and it's
an island. Okay, getting off the island. You if you're
gonna leave, you needed a visa to leave Sri Lanka Like,
where are you going? I'm gonna go to here. They're
like okay, so that was part of the government. You
had to have a visa to enter the country. And
I think Sri Lanka was like, you need a visa
to leave the country. I don't know about that for certain.
I know that makes sense, but visas were definitely necessary
for their travel. So eventually local taxi driver comes forward

(37:31):
and he tells the Bavarian police that he and a
couple other taxis were sitting out by the train station
early in the morning. Along comes to Sri Lankan national
handball team and they were like, oh, yeah, right, we
came a ride to the railway station in Munich. So
they're like, what's like, boom, mystery assault they were the
railway station in Munich. Turns out that's at the same time,
a new angle comes to life tertorism, because I said

(37:53):
two thousand and four the peak war on terrriers, right,
So of course immediately the news turns to the dark
question watch if these are terrorists and why is what
does detail of the sport's ambassad to doing is he's
a criminal mastermind? So now Dieter has to clear himself
of being alleged terror mastermind. So he finds himself under
serious suspicion. Right so, because you know, as I said,

(38:14):
he arranged the visas, so he'd first heard about their disappearance.
Like he's at work and a German university student burst
into his office all excited. The student does not look well,
like this didn't look like someone had died, right, he
was like, what's the trouble Dieter Doring says. He said,
mister Doring, do you know what's happened? And Doring's like,
I said, duh, duh, don't tell me. Those people have gone,
And somehow I could tell by his face that's a

(38:35):
had So he was all worried, right, He's like he
should have known at that point this was just the
beginning of trouble Old Deeterer. Yeah, because soon enough he's like,
you know, basically he's he's still trying to like keep
like a breezy attitude, Like when he's talking to the BBC,
he's like, this will be the last time we are
doing this. I'm not planning to invite any more teams
from Sri Lanka. But oh totally like all the kids

(38:58):
out of the pool, all right, No one kid crap
in the poll, everyone out of the pool, right. So anyway, this.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
Sund i'd hope so right, I think that's just a
healthcare violation.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
But in the metaphoralist got it. So the Sri Lankan
he's got to drive this to the German embassy. He
gets called to the German embassy in Sri Lanka. He's
got to like go tell them, like, I'm not a terrorist, right,
So it's a thirty three mile drive. The whole time
he's on the radio on the phone like radio journalists
and Field and like you know, like BBC Field journalists. Right.
He actually says I took an extra battery with me

(39:26):
before the drive. BBC Australia even reported this from Saudi Arabia.
All the news stations thought I was a mastermind. So
he's like trying to like argue intern Ashley, I'm not.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
Because he's on his way to headquarters.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
Yeah, they're like, is that a racer in the background?
Could you turn that down anyway? So the international press
they love this, the suspected mastermind of a tar cell
of you know, suspected Tamil Tiger gorillas. Right, this is
so now because remember the Sri Lankan Civil War is
a backdrop at this point, so they're thinking it's a
long and bloody war. So to think of maybe these
people are Tamil tiger gorillas. I don't know about you,
but the first time I heard the term Tamil tiger grillas, huh,

(40:01):
leaving the context and it's a very blood affair and
I don't need to make light of it at all.
But I was a punk teenager, so immediately I was like,
that should be the name of a band, Tamble Tiger Grilla.

Speaker 3 (40:10):
Yeah, totally.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
So anyway, so Deeter, he's accused now of being a
masterbind of the Tamble tiger Grillas, and uh, this doesn't
make any sense to Deeder, it's just simple mass. He's like,
there were only three tamble players on the team, the restless,
Shali's and Muslim. Yeah, He's like, doesn't even make sense.
So anyway, the level of nuance was lost on all
of this two thousand and four crowd. The press just
keeps training on the suspected terrorists, and so what happens

(40:33):
to the twenty three missing?

Speaker 4 (40:36):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (40:37):
You know, I guess I could say at this point
fake handball players, right, where are they Elizabeth.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
Living their best lives somewhere?

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Yeah, they've been smuggled where I'll flip it. If you
were to smuggle yourself into a country that's not America,
where would you pretend to be a fake Sri Lankan
handball team.

Speaker 3 (40:52):
Well, that's rough. You got to go somewhere where you're
not going to stand out too hard and you should
probably speak the language. But ideal, ideally, I'm kind of
thinking France that works for you outside of the not
in that sense, but just if you're looking at like
Sri Lankan's you know, trying to figure.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
Out I have a big enclave in Italy. Oh, that's
where they primarily go and gather in Europe and find
family connections and then launch in Italy. I do not
know where in Italy, but I just kept seeing reports
that of Tri Lankan enclaves in Italy. In the word enclave,
I'm dressing it up with enclavey, you know, different terms.
But the point being that, well, I'll answer the question

(41:31):
just to be fair to you, if I were to
go become a fake Sri Lankan handball team. Ironically, Germany
go to Germany. So anyway, So it turns out the visa, Yeah,
the German cabbies were on it. The Sri Lankan national
hand handball team had indeed gone to Italy, because that's
what they had told the Bavarian police. We think they
went to Italy. We dropped them off at the Munich
train station. Turns out they were right. They had gone

(41:53):
to Italy. They went to join the enclaves. As Chandana,
he's one of the players we called. We knew from
our relatives and friends that once we reached Italy there
was no way of sending us back. Italian people are
very friendly and they like us to work in their restaurants.
Sri Lankan's and Italy have no problem with the police.
We aren't involved in drugs or any other criminal activities.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
God, I thought that was truly interesting.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
I ever read right. Yeah, so they stay in Italy.
The Sri Lankan Enclaves embrace them. They make lives. Rupa Singa,
he gets a job in a pizza ria. He's slinging
dough in the Italy for four years before he decides
to return to Sri Lanka. He's like, this is not
cutting it for me. Interestingly, I thought ten years, after
ten years time, more than half of the team had
returned to Sri Lanka.

Speaker 3 (42:29):
Really huh, Maybe they just like made the little scratched take.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
With them that they all went over there to make
money and just sad back. They said that. Actually, Dieter
pointed out later on when he discovered that he had
helped him mollify his anger, is that he found out
that they all were sending money reliably back to multiple families,
not just one.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
They gotten that pizza slaying game exactly.

Speaker 2 (42:48):
Well, John DONDASONI, I came back after six months. My
child was sick, I felt homesick. I couldn't find a
job although it was promised. So he didn't even have
as much luck as Rupa Singe.

Speaker 3 (42:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
So you know, when he did get back to Sri Lanka,
he wrote a letter to make immens. He wrote, he said, quote,
I wrote a letter to mister Doring and I asked
for forgiveness.

Speaker 5 (43:05):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
Yeah, right, So Dieter, as I said, he was pissed
at first, right, so he made threats to take all
of them to court. He was going to sue them.
He wanted them locked up to everybody. So he was like, yeah,
he's like they made me look like a fool, and
so he was like pissed. That was a quote right now.
The German embassy blacklisted him. The sports ambassador program that
was killed. It was a big cost to pay for

(43:26):
the man who just wanted to unite everybody through spots.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
Right.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
So, but some time passed and his anger softened, it
drained away. I don't know if his wife helped him
with this or not, but eventually he was able to
see what happened with fresh eyes. He came to see
that it was all just an active desperate men. You know.
He was like, I forgave them and not wanting criminals.
So the raise is the question was this a crime?
They had basically stolen themselves away, they had broken international laws,
but was it a crime? No Ah, I knew you

(43:51):
would say that, so I would say, yes, it is
on the books, but no, it isn't in our hearts.
And so exactly it was costly right, But ultimately Deeter
didn't even see it as a crime, and he was
the victim, which meets my standard, which is if there's
no victim, no crime.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
Right, So in this case, yeah, I mean he did
have the trouble of getting pinned as an international terrorst Yeah,
there's that moment.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
That's a really bad kind of bad look tough, tough
on your career, hard of the family. Yeah. So well,
m I have to admit my if there's no victim,
there's no crime. That's not a hard and fast rule.
I know that there are exceptions. I don't mean it.
You know, there's no hard fast rules in life, in
my opinion, both exactly. My old point is let's not
rush to label someone a criminal, especially if there was
no victim. So in this case, the person most affected Dita,

(44:33):
he eventually forgave them and he saw himself as just
another unfortunate much like them. If anything, he aligned with them,
which is the goal of spot exactly crime what sport?
Did not? Just stop just kidding anyway. On a lighter note,
this story was a viral sensation in two thousand and four,
and in four years time, they made a movie, the
Sri Lankan National Handball Team as a movie machan, it's

(44:56):
a comedy. It's apparently a banger. The director uberto Pasoline
in Italian, you'll note they said, I fell in love
with the stort Is so much that I decided to
shoot it to my cell phone. What sorry, Italy. So
it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. After the conclusion
of the screen in the audience, they rose to their feet.
They gave it a ten minute standing ovation. Elizabeth, Yeah,
they love the film. It warmed their hearts to touch

(45:17):
their souls. That must have been a hell of a moment. Honestly,
hope the team was there right The Guardian they gave
a review of the film. They said it's one of
the most important films to come out of the developing
world in recent years, and they also pointed out that
it received a ringing endorsement for the Sri Lankan people.
It was a Sri Lankan production with an Italian director,
so he said to the reviewers said to their hearts.

(45:37):
They claimed it entirely as their own right. So, Elizabeth,
I also wanted to tell you there was another happy
ending in our Sri Lankan handball tale. In twenty ten,
there was a headline Sri Lanka debuts in International handball parentheses,
this time for real. Then they lost fifty eight to
twenty eight, but they got to furnestly compete exactly. No,

(45:59):
what thirty six two the first time? Yeah, thirty eight
to two. Anyway. I finally, I want to tell you
that this is also part of a much larger story.
This was not the only time that Sri Lankans have
used international sport as a cover for their chance at
a better life. Yes, it's practically a Sri Lankan tradition
at this point. Yeah. In two thousand and seven, there
was an Olympic coach for the triple jump. He decided
with Italy he's like I'm staying. And twenty fourteen, at

(46:20):
the Asian Games held that year in South Korea, there
were two Sri Lankans who decided that they would just
steal themselves away. There was a beach volleyball star which
I just love, Yeah, and a hockey player. So both
disappeared and they were like subsequently blacklisted from all international
sporting events. You know what, I say, Good for them exactly.
Because you may be wondering, Zaren, are you saying that
you are a fan of frauds in sports. No, I'm

(46:42):
on the side of those trying to get free, So
good on you. Guys, some things are bigger than sports,
and I know you and Lebron would both.

Speaker 3 (46:48):
Agreeing than hip hop hop.

Speaker 2 (46:54):
I like that. Well, did you have a ridiculous takeaway
for us?

Speaker 3 (46:58):
Yeah? I think I'm off to Italy, right, that's my dream.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
I recommend below. I love Bologna, the city of red roofs,
the red city we should run off to.

Speaker 3 (47:08):
Let's do it all right, let's just take Dave.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Come on, you, you drive us the airport and we'll
pack the bag steal. I'm gonna have the handball skills.
I gotta say though. One thing I like that these
twenty three cats from this fake Sri Lankan national handball
team decided to overcome the limitations of poverty, colonization, civil war,
and they did it with.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
Handball, and they overcame the lack of skill.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
Yes, exactly. It's an amazing accomplishment, wonderful yay crime. Well
that's all I got for you. Hope you enjoyed it.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
I did well.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
Uh now you know, as normal. You can find us
online at Ridiculous Crime, on Twitter and Instagram. If you'd
like to reach out and touch us, you can email
this a Ridiculous Crime at gmail dot com, or you
can reach out and touch our website ridiculous Crime dot com. Also,
there is the talkback app on iHeart which you can download. Yeah,
you can also use that you reach out talk to

(48:02):
us well, thanks for listening, We'll be back next drive.
Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zaren Burnett,
produced and edited by captain of the Ridiculous Crime National
Handball team, Dave Kusten. Research is by Marissa German as
I Want to be Brown and Andrea I Got more
passports than jay Z. Song Sharp and Tear. Our theme

(48:25):
song is by Thomas Handball, The Cannibal Lecter Lee and
Travis the Meadow Lark Lemon of Handball Dutton. The host
wardrobe provided by Botany five hundred. Executive producers are Ben
Commemorative Balls, Bowlin and No Commemorative Hands, Brown.

Speaker 5 (48:47):
Clime Say It One More Time Crime.

Speaker 1 (48:52):
Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio four more Podcasts.
My Heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.