Is Indian Gov. Doing Enough To Promote Sports In The Country

[jaydeep]

Very good article in today's TOI by Bobilli Vijay under BETWEEN THE LIES column ... Author written about current state of all sports and grip of authorities over it.

... But who will fire the ‘beautiful people’?
Bobilli Vijay

Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi has not killed Indian football with his bare hands; KPS Gill is not singularly responsible for the death of Indian hockey either. But surely, in a more just and civilised world, they would at least be tried for abetment in those two crimes.

Sadly, this is India. And as the Jessica Lal case has shown once again the beautiful people here get away even with murder. Literally too. You might argue that the likes of Munshi and Gill can’t be called beautiful by any stretch of imagination. But that’s beside the point.

They make up for whatever they lack by being at the right place, at the right time; they also derive their power and position by pulling invisible strings that open up doors, gates and, at times, even money vaults. They can do anything in this bad, bad world except for one little thing: improve their own sport.

There are, of course, many such beautiful people in Indian sport. Suresh Kalmadi. VK Malhotra. SS Dhindsa. Jagdish Tytler. The list is endless, really, and it would be a waste of time and space to dwell on their glorious achievements over the years. Sarcasm or open abuse is hardly going to make any difference to them, anyway.

You might be wondering about the reason for this tirade at a time when there’s so much to talk about in Indian cricket. The answer, my friend, is in the modus operandi of these beautiful people: they operate in a similar fashion, grabbing the limelight and the credit when the teams do well. And firing the captains or coaches when they fail.

Munshi and Gill have employed this trick regularly to deflect criticism, and to show that they are pro-active. Whether it was Rajinder Singh, senior or junior, Rach or Bhaskaran in hockey, or Constantine, Sukhwinder or Nayeemuddin in football, they were all appointed with much fanfare. Every one is, in fact, presented as the final answer to all the problems.

But one big defeat or a little humiliation later, the beautiful people turn around and show their true colours. They call the coaches incompetent, old-fashioned or simply not good enough; in one classic case, of course, one of them was accused of having a massive drinking problem too. And guess who made that accusation?

True, it’s better to move on if someone is not doing his job well. The point is: who is going to fire these mandarins? When will we see the likes of Munshi, Gill and sundry being sacked for not performing THEIR duties? When will our sports be freed from their vice-like grips?

The powerful sports administrators are, however, just a part of the bigger problem. Indian sport will not start breathing with energy and life until the government steps in, streamlines the system and brings accountability into the frame. It’s only then that the parents will encourage their kids to play games and the corporates will pump in their money.

Until then, the beautiful people will keep ruling and ruining our beautiful sports.

Jaydeep.

[India1989]

haha a nice little article and very true and specially the last line.


Man i have no hope for sports in India.