Indian Sport- A Playing Field For Politicians And Bureaucrats

Ever wondered why India, with a population of over a billion people never produce any world class athletes? The answer is simple, and its definitely not due to the lack of funds, but due to the politicians and bureaucrats nexus that have a stranglehold on Indian sport. No Indian sports body is free from the influence of such people. Recent match fixing scandals and bribery in Indian Cricket and Hockey have only strengthened this belief.For such people sports in India is about Power, Pelf and of course Free Publicity. The costs required to run a sports federation in India has led to the need of a politician to head one.Free travel, free stay abroad and easy money for doing nothing are something they all seem to thrive on.
The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI), the largest body in India and by far the richest board in the world has a certain Mr Sharad Pawar in charge, who is a leading politician of the country. It is believed to get things done in India, one needs to have political power or backing, but once such people have tasted the fruits of such bodies, it is impossible to remove them from their positions. An example of such a case is the All India Football Federation (AIFF). It is being run by a politician by the name of Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, who can easily be said to be the least popular head, not only by the public but also by his own football fraternity. Yet he has remained in power despite the combined efforts of industrial heavyweights Vijay Mallaya, Mahindra and Sameer Thapar.
Even a professional run federation such as the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has not been spared. They feel it necessary to have a powerful person at the helm in order to get things done. C. Subramaniam, Brahmanand Reddy, Fakkuruddin Ali Ahmed, Natwar Singh, Satish Sharma, Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha are some of the political heavyweights to run this association. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA), the Amateur Athletic Federation of India, and the Asian Athletic Federation all have one man as president, Mr Suresh Kalmadi.
K.P.S Deo is president of the Rowing Federation of India, and the entry of the Chautala brothers signified an era of total politicisation in the Sports Federations of India. Abhay Singh and Ajay Singh, held head posts for the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation and the Table Tennis Federation of India respectively and had also set their eyes on other sporting bodies. What is more, one of their own men was at the head of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Some time ago when Mr. Vajpayee was Prime Minister he had to intervene a heated battle between, then Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharti and IOA president Suresh Kalmadi just so that work could get underway for the inaugural Afro Asian games. Bureaucrats also make it impossible for sports administrators to function smoothly and prosperously. This is evident in the case of India's sprint queen P.T Usha. The ‘Usha School of Athletics’ at her home town in Payyoli in Kerala faced massive delays due to bureaucratic red tape. Surely had it been a politician in charge it would have been easily achieved. Most sporting federations are able to generate large amount of funds due tot he fact that they have a politician or bureaucratic at the head. Super cop K.P.S Gill(hockey), Director-general of Haryana Police M. S. Malik, president of the IABF have had an ample supply of funds.
Tennis, hockey, football, table tennis, shooting, rowing, archery et al are headed by leading politicians. That is why it is amazing to see, with total awe and respect,the greatness of a certain Randhir Singh, who in my eyes is one of the greatest sportspersons and sports administrators India has had,to hold his seat. A few of his achievements- First Indian shooter to win a gold medal in Asian games,
Won four Gold Medals at the Pesta Sukan Shooting Championship in 1969.(these are just a few). As an administrator- Secretary General of Indian Olympic Association since 1987 and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) in the same position since 1991,Afro- Asian Games Council since 1998.He was also the Secretary-General of the South Asia Sports Promotion for two terms, 1987 and 1994.In Moscow, 2001, he was elected to be a member of International Olympic Committee(IOC). After all this,(apart from the fact of him being a great human being), I'm sure still has to look over his shoulder in order to keep the hounding politicians away from his sporting seats. His removal, would most certainly be the death of Indian Sport in every aspect, more like a national suicide mission if anyone were to play dirty games with a person of his stature. What Indian sports need in order to thrive is more people like him and I hope politicians and Bureaucrats can see what it takes to be a real sports administrator. India, apart from cricket, does not feature in any top half of the rankings in any sport. Its time the country woke up and also the political-bureaucratic nexus was brought to a halt.