Sports and Politics in India

Sport is one of the purest forms of combat. This world, which rewards toil and sweat, and designs true devotion and discipline to a cause, is far removed from the murky labyrinth that is politics. If politics is flighty, sport is downright earthy, basic. However, our political heavyweights bound the chasm between the two fields with aplomb. Therein lies the mystery. After all, why would a high-flying politician choose to link himself with low-profile sports like kabaddi, hockey or table tennis? Turns out that there is far more to the sports administration pie than just influence. By nudging Sharad Pawar off after he handed the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and before the shutterbugs went on overdrive, Ricky Ponting and his mates showed they didn’t want politicians or patrons intruding into a players’ moment. That the situation could have been handled better is a no-brainer and Ponting subsequently apologised but politicians do have a tendency to seek their 15-second of ‘frame’ by being around successful sportspersons. Politicians , believes sports events are a great platform to grab public attention. “Sport provides a huge opportunity for mass contact and is completely free of caste or religion,” reported in press. Many politicians had accepted that their association with sports has helped raise their political profile. We can quote many examples in relation to this; Dasmunsi was president of All India Football Federation (AIFF) for 20 years before he suffered a heart attack, in October 2008, which restricted him to the hospital bed. While Praful Patel, the aviation minister, took over the reins from him, Dasmunsi is now designated honorary president.Even while he was at the helm of affairs, India’s inability to break into the top-100 in the FIFA rankings didn’t impede on Dasmunsi’s upward mobility in football’s corridors of power and the perks such movement entails. He has been match commissioner at a World Cup, in charge of World Cup venues and also got