Time to boot politicians heading sporting bodies and events By Nisser Dias nisserdias at gmail.com SMS to 9422437029
At this very moment our country is reeling under a mess conceived and executed by a senior congress Member of Parliament Suresh Kalmadi who got himself nominated as the head of the Commonwealth Games. With less then fifty days to go for the event to unfold, the infrastructure be it directly connected with the sporting events or the state in is total disarray. Almost on every day basis we can see visuals of incomplete works at the venues in New Delhi on our television screens. Here was a golden opportunity of showing India to the world in a new avatar. But no, most of our politicians have proved to be bane for this country and the young citizenry have resigned to their fate that as long as corrupt politicians are allowed to rule the roost, mother India will not march ahead as it should.
The allegation of financial mismanagement indicate the depth of level our politicians will stoop to get their pound of flesh, which clear indicates that the welfare of the country is not their prime goal at all, though they might beat their breast in public proclaiming their dedication and love for India.
This country boasts of more then a billion population but where are we placed in the sporting world. We are not even in the list of progressing countries, even though India clinched its first gold medal in recent years. Why is this happening, the answer to this question is simple, it is because most of the politicians head the sports associations. For them it is lucrative in every sense, firstly there is huge amount of money involved, (wherever there is a scent of money there has to be politicians) secondly heading the associations give them the clout and command over a large section of population involved with that particular sports, which increases their popularity.
But the question is do the boards of these sporting bodies all over the country scrutinize or study the capabilities of that politician in that particular sport. It does not look like because none of the politicians heading the associations or boards have much experience in sports. It seems that they are accepted on boards to curry favours with the governments.
Let us take the example of Suresh Kalmadi, who is currently heading the CWG organizing committee. Do we know anything about his sports background like whether he represented his school, college, village or state in any sports? Do we know about his organizational skills and to trust him with organizing something of magnitude of Common Wealth Games? And the result is he has brought disrepute to India.
Then lets us take the case of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, he became the president Board of Cricket Council in India (BCCI) and is currently the chief of International Cricket Council (ICC). This Maratha has not even held a bat in his youth, only time he have handled a cricket bat or cricket kit must be when he was distributing it specially during election campaigns. But he still manages to have an iron grip on the BCCI who administration and functioning is encompassed in secrecy.
Here I would like to make a mention of Lalit Modi, the creator of T20 cricket format. I will not deny that he organized three Indian Premier Leagues (IPL) to stamp his organizational skill, but to expose his alleged financial fraud an Indian politician who alleged wanted his share of the big biz also got exposed. Ultimately sports in India is all about money, cuts and commissions to the politicians, otherwise how does one explain that Suresh Kalmadi and his team alleged tried to get commissions on toilet paper.
Coming closer home, former minister and Aldona MLA Dayanand Narvekar continues to rule the roost as the president of Goa Cricket Association even after being charge sheeted for alleged criminal conspiracy in the ticketgate scam. Just to brush the memory of the readers, excessive tickets were allegedly allowed to be printed and sold during an ODI between India and Australia on 6th April 2001 and the result was police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse ticket holders wanting to get into the stadium but even then the Fatorda stadium was overcrowded thereby leading to endangering human life.
Dayanand Narvekar who has knowledge of the game and has played club level cricket in Goa went on to become vice-president of BCCI even after the scandal and nine years later has even managed to schedule another ODI in October this year. But besides making this association cash rich, what have they contributed to the sport, besides organizing fifteen days summer camps for kids the contribution is negligible, thus indicating his love for the sport is selective. If at all two young Goan cricketers made it to the IPL for the last three years it is because of their own determination because even today the GCA does not provide much facilities and infrastructure for upcoming players. It is only when players shine that these associations take notice of it.
When Opposition Leader Manohar Parrikar was the chief minister, he donned the mantle as chairman of a high level sports body in Goa, now what is Parrikar contribution to any sport. We have heard of his excellence in academics but there is not a whisper of his exploits in sports.
Chief minister Digambar Kamat is the president of Swimming Federation of India. I for sure know that he was a badminton player during his youth, but swimming I cannot recollect. Sixteen years old Talasha Prabhu has done Goa proud in swimming at various levels and events, what are the facilities provided to her by the government besides some meager funds that too paid much later after her parents have to pay for all the expenses to encourage her.
Similar is the case with young chess players in Goa, Ivana Furtado, Bhakti Kulkarni, Riya Savant, Riddi Zantye and Anurag Mhamal – these young players have brought laurels to Goa from world over. World Governing body for Chess and senior chess master have lauded the talent in this children but our sports minister is still brooding over opposition to his sports city. To share their financial burden in pursuit of their talent some corporates came forward and made some of these children their brand ambassadors.
The list can go on and on not only here but at the national level also; the situation is so bad that India has fallen far behind in our own national game. It is high time that politicians are booted out from heading sports association and in their place sportsmen with proven track record in particular sports be mandatory be made to head sports in India. (ENDS)
======================================================== First published in Gomantak Times, Goa - August 26, 2010 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Goa-launch of the well-received *Into The Diaspora Wilderness* by Selma Carvalho on Aug 29, 2010 (Sunday) at 11 am at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. Meet the author, buy a signed copy (only Rs 295 in Goa till stock lasts). http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
