Olympic disaster: What Ails Indian Sports?

The razzmatazz of the Olympics ended & a pall of regular gloom descended on the Indian shores with the same question on everyone’s lips: Why does a country of 1.25 Billion not produce Olympic Champions? The Chinese media has patronizingly attributed it to lack of infrastructure, poverty, caste & gender discrimination, undue focus on cricket, focus on academic excellence alone & lack of information regarding Olympics in rural areas; perhaps   they presume the absence of those very issues as reasons behind their stupendous success.   

That our men failed miserably & the Ladies - Sindhu & Sakshi - were the saving graces is a fitting rebuke to an intensely patriarchal society; the lasses had to overcome heavy odds clutching many a times on their parents support alone to reach the podium. While Sindhu travelled huge distances   daily to reach the Gopichand academy at 4 AM daily, the latter had to battle patriarchal diatribes in native Haryana against a woman picking up what was euphemistically referred to as a “Male sport”.  Not surprisingly the slogan rending the air now is “Beti Bachao; Beti Padhao, Beti Khelao”. If the “Power of 49” (a campaign run by TATA since women form 49% of Indian citizens) is truly unleashed we would have achieved a remarkable social, economic & political transformation.

India dominated the hockey field till the introduction of the astro- turf did it in. The performance in individual sports though has always been abysmal. After KD Jathav opened the account in 1952 at Helsinki with a bronze medal in wrestling, the nation had to wait for 44 years before Leander Paes won a Tennis bronze in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The individual medals won by Indians since independence: Helsinki 1952(1); Atlanta 1996(1); Sydney 2000(1); Athens 2004(1), Beijing 2008(3), London 2012(6) & Rio 2016(2). The breakup of the haul : Wrestling(5); Shooting(4); Badminton(2); Boxing(2); Tennis(1); Weightlifting(1).  There are 2 takeaways from these data points: Economic liberalization has done the country considerable good even in sports though not to the desired extent; & India should focus on 5 -6 sports where we seem to have a competitive advantage & increase the medal haul. The size of the Indian contingent increased from 56 in 2008, 83 in 2012 to 119 in 2016, despite high qualifying criteria, alludes to the positive fact that while we haven’t excelled to reach the podium yet, there is a surge in performance.

The vectors to be concentrated for putting up a better performance in 2020 at Tokyo follow.

Infrastructure:  The oft repeated complaint is the nutrition deficiency amongst our citizenry, lack of infrastructure & the small sports budget of 1592 crores for FY16-17.  While the truism behind such an assertion cannot be denied, it is pertinent to analyse why countries with lower per capita incomes have exceeded our performances. Jamaica (11),  Ethiopia (8) etc.  have won more medals this Olympics than India (2) & they don’t boast of excellent infrastructure either; lest critics argue that their performance is a one off, it must be emphasized that Jamaica has consistently produced excellent sprinters & Ethiopia marathoners.  Hence the conclusion that concentrating on some sports where we have a competitive advantage is a good idea.

India has done well in wrestling, boxing, shooting, lawn Tennis & badminton & there is no reason why we could not have won more medals in these categories. We have decent infra in these sports disciplines.

While infra similar to that in Western countries or a sports program similar to that in authoritarian & communist nations  is desired, it must  grudgingly be admitted that surely India has  better infra than the countries like Ethiopia or Jamaica.  That we fail consistently can, therefore, be attributed to only one fact: the culture where parents want their Children to become professionals (Engineer/ Doctor/ IAS officer/ MBA grad) & not necessarily a sports’ pro.  That all of us were glued to our seats when Sindhu was playing indicates that all Indians are necessarily patriotic – expecting Olympic golds - without taking the risk of pushing our progeny into the arena of competitive sports; unless that mentality changes, expecting superlative performances shall remain mere pipedreams.

With the Kabaddi, Football, Hockey, Badminton etc.  leagues’ attracting sponsors, a citizen who chooses to become a sports pro is assured of a decent career today – if she is at the top of the game - that rivals the top honchos of the corporate world. Therefore, there is no reason to prod children towards studies alone if they show an increased proclivity & proficiency in any game.

 The solution is to identify centres of excellence across the vast geography of India & spur excellence; that can be done not only through govt. initiatives but also thru a PPP (Public private partnerships) or private initiatives like the Olympic Gold Quest. Badminton at Hyderabad, Wrestling & Boxing at Haryana are cases in point. 

9 athletes from India qualified for walking, but only 6 could be sent because of the slots available; that 9 qualified alludes to the possibility of another sport where India can emerge as a power if plans are put into place.

Corruption: The Indian Olympic Association appears to be mired in corruption;  Kalmandi’s scalp post the CWG scam is an example.  The situation is no different in other truant associations; in 2012 the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF was suspended by the AIBA - the world boxing body on charges of manipulating elections. With no nationals conducted during the preceding 2 years, no new talent emerged in this sport despite Vijender’s medal victory in 2008 & Mary Kom’s win in 2012 giving a huge impetus to this sport.

Official Apathy: The attitudes & actions of Indian aficionadas succeed in bringing disrepute to the Country. The Indian sports Minister Vijay Goel was on a selfie  spree & was warned by the Olympic organizers of disaccredit ion for rushing into the games village with his unaccredited entourage. If that was not enough, injuries to the wrestlers revealed to our surprise that both the members of the medical team accompanying the contingent were radiologists & not sports’ doctors; one of them Pawandeep Singh earned the sobriquet of “Dr. Combiflam” for prescribing the same medicine for all problems.  Their presence at watering holes & not where they were required did not help matters. Dutee Chand has complained that while she travelled cramped for 36hrs in economy class effecting performance, the officials cruised in the business class. Jaisha’s complaint regarding lack of hydration facilities while she was running her marathon indicate official apathy for she was not informed of the rules by either the coach or the officials; the job of the wards is to just to concentrate on their event while coaches/ officials should brief them on the nitty gritties  of strategy & arrangements.

Doping Controversies: Leaving aside the debate whether Narsing Yadav was a victim or a villain, it made no sense to push NADA for clearing his name when it was evident that WADA would stop his advances; this illogical decision, which appears politically inclined, resulted in a 4 years ban; perhaps, he would have suffered a 2 year ban otherwise.  While the Russian doping fiasco & consequently a large no of their athletes being disallowed at Rio is well publicised, the deep rooted doping industry in India is kept under wraps. Indian players & coaches who were sent to the former Soviet Union learned the tricks which resulted in Indian players getting consistently disqualified since the 1986 Seoul Olympics. This needs a thorough investigation & revamp.

Maladministration: There is a discussion on politicians being banned from manning sports bodies with players running these institutions; these changes are likely to have popular support but are unlikely to get implemented.  Firstly, consensus on the same shall keep eluding since politicians across the political spectrum are united in their resolve not to leave their prized perches. It is also a fact that some politicians have done yeoman service to certain sports – Madhav Rao Scindia or NKP Salve for cricket although it is not an Olympic sport – simply for the love of that sport; on the contrary some players heading sports bodies have been un-inspirational.  Elections to the sports bodies makes the process essentially political, therefore, insisting on better governance practices & not necessarily eviction of the political class is a better solution.

Ego: India is a world power in tennis – in the doubles & mixed doubles category with Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes & Sania Mirza winning many a Grand slam; paradoxically though they lose in the Olympics perhaps due to ego problems galore between the players. The AITF steps in to play a forced match maker adding to the controversy. Players being allowed to select their own partners would, perhaps, be a better choice

Conclusion

The story in 2020 would be no different from the one in 2016 unless preparations start now. It is incumbent on the govt., directly or through court directives to ensure that sports associations are disciplined. Implementation of the recommendations of the Lodha committee recommendations for the reforms of BCCI – through Cricket is not an Olympic sport – could start the “signalling”; reforms in the boxing association should come next with others to follow.

Sports bodies should appoint national coaches with a mandate to win gold in 2020; performance in the intervening commonwealth & Asian Games would form part of the obvious appraisal process. After all haven’t we seen Nobbs doing a brilliant job as the National Hockey coach?

With associations disciplined & national coaches appointed with clear mandates, work should start on strengthening the grassroots. Recognition to schools & colleges should move beyond the teacher: student ratio, library facilities etc. into sports infra; unless the revolution begins at schools, we cannot produce champions.  Looking at the fact that Sindhu has been gifted about 13 crores & Sakshi about 5 crores, parents should be convinced that their wards can make a career in sports too. Sadly, this change however, shall take a longer time.

Olympic glory is not beyond reach though.