There should be a total and official ban on politicians holding posts in Sports organisations. Many of them having corroded the political sphere should not be given another avenue to drag that rot into the sports pitch. We have been seeing sports going down the tube due to such awful influence. For many, politics is now a personal investment and holding positions of influence in sports organisations is just another avenue to generate extra personal income.
Let the sports field and its organizations be managed by young, talented and dedicated sports persons. And in Goa we have so many of them and they will do us proud while bringing glory to Sports. Effective management of sport requires knowledge, experience, integrity and a burning desire to share those qualities and to promote new talent and ensure success. The only role of Government and politicians on behalf of the people should be to ensure that official sports organisations are adequately supported and funded with total transparency. They must never be directly or indirectly involved in the day-to-day management of such sporting organisations. History is littered with examples of unacceptable conflict of interests and corruption with little or no sporting success when politics is allowed to mix with sports. The Government of India had directed all sports bodies in the country to adopt the National Sports Code. The Sports code was formulated to go a long way to free the state/district level sports bodies, which are run as fiefdom by a few politicians and to contribute significantly towards the true development of sports in the country. But for reasons that are obvious the Goa government has shied away from adopting that National Sports Code. The great athlete Eric Heiden has been of the opinion that “Sports and politics don't mix” while “You cannot mix sports with politics” is what the Martial artist Jackie Chan has opined. Let us hope our very proactive Sports Minister Govind Gaude will do everything possible to eject the political rot that has crept into Sports. Adv. Aires Rodrigues C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: [email protected] You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.in
