The
Rio Olympics is over and India`s medal tally has gone down as compared to
London Olympics. Except for Sakshi, Sindhu and Dipa the entire games has been a
forgetful one and as usual there has been a big round of analysis for the
failure and after a few days everything will be forgotten. The topics of
discussions have been wrestlers from Haryana, Sindhu and her coach Gopi, Dipa`s
success despite no support from system, more officials travelling on junkets,
most athletes not even coming close to their personal bests, the Indian sports
minister`s entourage, the team doctor who doesn’t know sports medicine, etc. –
same old story of a few pockets of excellence in a pall of official apathy.
An
another point of discussion has been the money spent by leading sporting
nations with Great Britain spending close to $500mn as compared to $100mn by
India which has been touted as one of the major reasons for India`s dismal
performance. Probably so but not convincing. Chetan Bhagat in his weekly
article in TOI on 21st Aug`16 has written how most of this money
gets used up in administrative and official expenses and hence very less amount
actually on athletes’ preparation.
Time for a change in ecosystem
A
country like India has a far lower per capita GDP as compared to Britain and
hence we cannot say that only spending money will generate results. It`s time
to rework the ecosystem surrounding sports in India the responsibility for
which has to shared by all - people of India and other stakeholders- rather
than only the government institutions. It’s time that we stop depending on the
government and official support to build up a sporting system in India. As with
the IT industry in India, minimal and lesser government role and more private
sector and retail participation will ensure better results. The BCCI is a
successful sporting organization as it is not run by government. Bringing a big element of economics in the
sports system will generate results and the funding can come from all sources
and not only the government. The US sports system is a perfect example of a
balance of government support, institutional support and people`s
participation.
A
great sporting ecosystem will need to encompass and effective interplay of:
(a)
Government support,
(b)
People participation,
(c)
Private / corporate sector involvement
A. People
participation
No
point in us all sitting in the comforts of our living room and blaming the
Indian athletes like Shobha De. The first thing that we all can do is get our
kids to go out of the houses and play outside which will ensure a feel and love
for sports amongst the kids. Secondly, let’s encourage our children to
participate in sporting events and enrol in sports either at school or in
sports academies. The USA has many leagues because of which many people take up
sports as a career. In the last few years many sporting leagues have come up in
India which offer career and outlets to many budding sports persons. The people
should can also encourage sports by watching the sports games at stadiums.
Watching a game live can be source of entertainment like watching a movie or
going to a restaurant as turnout at stadiums generates revenues for the
organizers and hence more funding. People adopting sports and outdoor
activities as a way of life is very key to building up a sporting culture in
our country.
B. Private
Sector
Perhaps
the most critical part to building a successful ecosystem is the private
sector. If the government is unable to fund on its own, the financial needs for
sports, then a successful public-private association can bridge the gap.
Private sector participation can ensure funds and also importantly ensure that
funds are used effectively with much wastage. The mushrooming of many leagues
in India like the IPL, ISL, Kabaddi league, etc. has been due to the
sponsorship and patronization by the corporates like DHL, Pepsi, etc. Private
sector need also play other important roles in the following routes:
1.
Sponsoring
school level sports – school level is where raw talent can be spotted early and
nurtured at an early age.
2.
Sponsoring
sports academies – Sports academies need money to build and operate. P.
Gopichand, Sindhu and Saina`s coach, mortgaged his house to fund his badminton
academy in Hyderabad but how many coaches and ex- sportsmen can afford to do
so?
An
another important role can be played by banks and funding organizations like
PE`s. Banks and PE`s can look at funding sports as an industry and look at
sponsoring sports academies run by ex-sportsmen and professional coaches.
As
we have seen in the past few years, great sporting talent comes from B and
below grade cities as well as rural areas. Sports academies are very essential
in these places as well and hence financial support is highly required in these
areas and not only in main cities and metros.
C. Government
The
much riled government has proved that it is an abject failure in running the
sports system in the country. It’s time that even in sports India moves from
the “License Raj” to the “free economy” where the government plays a supporting
and a facilitator`s role. The government needs to do the following actions:
1. Bring
in a proper Sports bill, passed in Parliament, which will bring in rules and
regulations in all sports associations. Most of the Sports associations are run
like personal fiefdoms, by politicians and connected people, with little
interest in sports. The government should ensure involvement of ex-sportsmen in
running the sports organizations.
2. As
a part of community development, cities layouts should have adequate parks and
playgrounds for children to play.
3.
Sports
as a compulsory subject in all schools. Tough to implement but needs to be
done.
4. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has announced a team to look at sports and Olympics
preparation. It should have a mix a sportsmen, managers and some
well-intentioned politicians rather than allow politicians to use it as a
junket.
For
India to win more medals in events like Olympics we need a radical change in
the pattern of funding. Increasing private sector and finance sector
participation, focussed NGO efforts like that of Gold Quest and people`s
participation will only help and not a system driven only by crony politicians
as it is now.
Let`s
hope for more than 2 medals in Tokyo 2020!!
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