What Ails Indian Sports
What ails Indian sports A nation of over one billion people and only one individual Gold medal in the Olympics till date! Alas, once the best in the field of men’s hockey but not even able to qualify for the Olympics. Similarly, once an Asian champion in football but now struggling to stand on its feet. All these elucidate the deplorable state of sports in our country. Even small nations like Zimbabwe, Latvia are much ahead of us in the medal tally. So what is it that is depriving the nation of a respected stature in sports? The question calls for a deep introspection since there are interlinked factors leading to a chain reaction.
The primary reason for the poor state of the nation in sports is the apathy on the part of the sports governing authorities. One key reason for this is that most of the top positions in such governing bodies are occupied by bureaucrats rather than those who know about sports. This results in very poor coordination between the top- level and grassroots-level sports authorities. Lack of funds is invariably cited as the prime factor: but the fact is that no amount of funds can be adequate for the purpose due to burgeoning corruption in these bodies. In fact, it is not the lack of funds but the lack of responsibility on their part. They go about their job in a casual manner: they never care for the national pride associated with sporting glory.
The sad plight of Indian hockey is a case in point. For those who know that it has been our national game, it remains a mystery as to why it still is ! For it has long fallen from the glory which players like Dhyan Chand had brought for the game. India had won 11 medals in twelve Olympic Games between 1928 and 1980. however, the indifference on the part of the governing bodies has finally taken its toll, as evident in the Indian Hockey team’s failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics 2008.
The situation is so grim that even such a shock at the Olympic qualifiers two years back could not shake the
The primary reason for the poor state of the nation in sports is the apathy on the part of the sports governing authorities. One key reason for this is that most of the top positions in such governing bodies are occupied by bureaucrats rather than those who know about sports. This results in very poor coordination between the top- level and grassroots-level sports authorities. Lack of funds is invariably cited as the prime factor: but the fact is that no amount of funds can be adequate for the purpose due to burgeoning corruption in these bodies. In fact, it is not the lack of funds but the lack of responsibility on their part. They go about their job in a casual manner: they never care for the national pride associated with sporting glory.
The sad plight of Indian hockey is a case in point. For those who know that it has been our national game, it remains a mystery as to why it still is ! For it has long fallen from the glory which players like Dhyan Chand had brought for the game. India had won 11 medals in twelve Olympic Games between 1928 and 1980. however, the indifference on the part of the governing bodies has finally taken its toll, as evident in the Indian Hockey team’s failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics 2008.
The situation is so grim that even such a shock at the Olympic qualifiers two years back could not shake the