Sports minister may be taking the lead, but everyone else is on sleep mode
In the matrix of corporate planning, meetings, reviews, fresh inputs, corrections and getting back to the board are very common. For those who have been following Indian sports for a few decades, the new buzzword is: Committee. It’s close to seven months after the Rio Olympics ended. And people have forgotten how India won just two medals through PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik.
The way committees are being formed by the MInistry of Youth Affairs and Sport (MYAS), one would get an impression preparations are happening on a war footing. Before this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself selected a task force to look into the preparations for the next three Olympics from 2020 to 2028. All this sounds as if India has suddenly become a sport conscious nation and planning is on in minute detail. Somewhere, reality seems different as no nation can prepare in isolation for the Olympics.
In 2018, India will be competing at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia and the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Every press release from the government has been talking about preparation for the future Olympics. From a rejig in the TOPS (Target Olympic Podum Scheme) to more committees and sub committees, the sports ministry under the leadership of Vijay Goel seems like making a conscious effort at taking the lead in planning.
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| Photo: Mail Today |
Yet, what is a bit disconcerting is nobody is taking about the immediate task on hand — two major Games next year. A new committee formed by the sports ministry had its first meeting in the Capital last week. Abhinav Bindra, who is now part of two major committees, PT Usha and Karnam Malleswari attended the first meeting. Anjali Bhagwat did not show up.
According to insiders, nothing sensational was discussed. But what is a bit surprising in involving former top sportspersons in these committees is those with a seeming conflict of interest.
Till now, only one man has refused to be part of a task force committee to prepare for the Tokyo 2020 and 2024 committee. No need for many guesses, word has it that former All England champion Prakash Padukone has quietly opted out of it.
A gentleman and role model all along, Padukone has been involved with the promotion of badminton and running an academy in Bengaluru. He obviously sensed that it was improper to be part of a government committee as there could be a conflict of interest.
This is truly what one expects from a man like Padukone whose simplicity and commitment are of the highest order. Sadly, the government seems to have overlooked conflict of interest while naming many former champions in committees. It includes PT Usha, who runs an athletic centre in Kerala and has been mentoring Tintu Luka in the 800 metres.
Anju Bobby George, Anjali Bhagwat and some more names do crop up as well. They are part of training or mentoring programmes and to be part of a sarkari committee would not be proper.
A former Olympic medallist mentioned how when former sports champions come to a big meeting like preparing for the Olympics, they need to leave personal choices and preferences behind. On paper, it may sound good but implementing it in practicality is near impossible.
On the face of it, that the NDA government is serious about planning for mega international sporting events needs to be complimented. However, if one talks of what sports federations are doing in this regard, there is not much clarity. In recent times, two people of prominence — Bindra and sports secretary Injeti Srinivas — have mentioned that sports federations need to be run professionally and how appointing CEOs would be a good decision.
If making sports federations function like a corporate body can be achieved, so many contentious issues can be sorted out. In India, we have a motley mix of sports federations. Hockey India has been praised by someone like Bindra as he feels it has been able to raise its own profile and also funds.
At a time when most federations rely hugely on government funding, the way it is run is far from being professional. At the other end of the spectrum, we have the Indian Olympic Association, which still functions like a courier service.
Instead of getting involved in Olympic preparations and the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, the IOA’s top bosses are only worried about their own existence. Within the IOA, there is no unity and how two big officials are keen to hang on to power till 2018!
The good part is despite flop shows in recent times, the government is not shying away from spending money. If the Rio Games was an eye opener and two medals in the last stages was like a miracle, nothing seems to be changing seven months later.
There are certain sporting disciplines which are trying to bounce back. Sadly, there is a seeming lack of cohesion between the sports ministry, the national sports federations and the IOA.