“We only have one pitch in Cartaxo and we have 28 teams in the Portuguese league,” Jitesh Kumar, 56, told Lusa. He has been in Portugal since the 1980s, a country he has represented in the sport.

“We fought for our flag, which is Portugal”, and “cricket is currently growing a lot”, but there is “a lack of fields” to train and play on. Improvised cricket matches are common on the streets of the Portuguese capital, from Martim Moniz to Parque das Nações.

Cricket is “a sport that is ranked second in terms of the number of players in the world” and the construction of an official pitch in Greater Lisbon would be “a great help for our country”, not least for tourism reasons, said Jitesh Kumar.

The president of the Casa da Índia Association, Shiv Kumar Singh, has a similar opinion, considering that playing sports is also a way of integrating immigrants who have chosen Portugal to build their lives. “Not everyone wants to play professionally” and “sports venues” are important, the leader explained, although he stressed that the integration of many South Asian immigrants could be an opportunity for Portugal.

“This community could represent Portugal in cricket”, as is already the case in some European countries such as the Netherlands and France, he explained, stressing that this would be a source of pride for many immigrants, as a way of reciprocating the welcome.

“We want the Portuguese flag to also be present in the sport”, he said.

The practice of cricket may seem strange to many Portuguese, but Shiv Kumar Singh believes that everyone can benefit. “The more multicultural the world is, the better the world will be”, he stressed.

“Immigrants are here to stay, with their children in school” and sport would help in this path of joint coexistence.

“We cannot deny the comfort that immigrants have” in Portugal, because “the Portuguese people are friendly” and, “even if they don’t speak Portuguese well, people manage to make themselves understood”, he stated, minimising the impact of xenophobic attitudes on the part of some groups and political movements.

“I don’t think that the majority of Portuguese people think that way” and “business owners need workers”, he stressed.

The association leader believes that “there are many things” that need to be improved in immigration policies in Portugal, but he acknowledges that this will not happen “overnight”.

Recognising that there are structural problems in areas such as Education and Health, Singh stressed that “it is not just immigrants who are creating problems” and “understanding is needed from everyone”, because foreigners contribute to the State’s revenue.


Education

“It is important that the Portuguese get to know more about the South Asian community”, which wants to integrate healthily into society.

“The law is above all of us, we all have to respect the law”, whether the “Portuguese community or the migrant community”, he stated, rejecting the connection made by political movements, such as Chega, between immigrants and crime.

“For individual cases, you can’t point [the finger] at the entire community”, especially because “Portugal has been one of the safest countries in the world and we want this to continue”, said the leader, appealing for consensus.

“Portugal’s problems are immigrants’ problems and immigrants’ problems are Portugal’s problems. And together we will find a solution”, he summed up.

Both the national authorities and the government have claimed that there is no relationship between crime and immigrants, denying that there is any data that points to greater insecurity.

In the presentation of the Action Plan for Migration, the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, once again rejected “any direct link” between the “capacity to welcome immigrants and increases in crime rates”.

In the report by the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), in 2023, more than 115,000 South Asians were resident in Portugal, with Indians being the largest community (44,051), followed by Nepal (29,972), Bangladesh (25,666) and Pakistan (17,148), countries that have cricket as their main sport.