The story of Indian sports has always been about overcoming odds, fighting against adversity and apathy, and proving wrong the naysayers and individuals in power.
The triumphs of our athletes at the Asian and Asian Para Games, along with other international events, can’t hide the inconvenient truth that our stars are shining despite the system, not because of it. The National Sports Federations — a collection of fiefdoms presided over by politicians, bureaucrats, or their kins — continue to pull our athletes down. Their self-serving interests always take precedence over trivial matters like national interests.
In 2023, our achievements on the field were as impressive as the administrative fiascos off it. While our stars won gold, scored centuries, and broke barriers, our sports mandarins were busy turning their roles into a labyrinth of chaos.
The Indian wrestlers, winners of six of the country’s 18 medals from the past four Olympics, were grappling far away from the mat. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former president of the Wrestling Federation of India, managed to maintain his influence despite allegations of impropriety. Sanjay Singh, who sees Brij Bhushan as his “elder brother”, won the WFI presidency, but, thankfully, the Union Sports Ministry was quick to suspend the newly elected body.
The defiant WFI, much like a persistent fly in a summer picnic, has called for the Nationals, and with the World Body threatening suspension for outside influence, the wrestlers are left without support in a crucial Olympic year.
Elsewhere, former India hockey captain and Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh earned a booking from the Chandigarh Police for allegedly sexually harassing and criminally intimidating a junior athletics coach. A power struggle between India Taekwondo and the Taekwondo Federation of India, meanwhile, left the players with little training and time to acclimatise, resulting in a disastrous Asian Games campaign. The run of the men’s cricket team in the home ODI World Cup, as well, was overshadowed by the ticket sales fiascos. Cricketers played in near-empty stadiums while fans clicked and refreshed frantically for non-existent tickets on an error-prone ticketing platform.
Sadly, 19-year-old Chirag Khandal, who secured a spot at the Hangzhou Asian Games, decided retirement was more appealing than continuing an exhausting battle with the Equestrian Federation of India. Wind surfer Katya Coelho, too, failed to participate at the continental event after her name was omitted at the last minute despite securing qualification.
The country’s annual National Sports Awards also had its usual share of controversy as compound archer Jyothi Surekha moved Court for missing out on the Khel Ratna even after winning nine gold medals across multiple competitions.
In 2023, Indian sport continued to be a beacon of disorder and insanity and promises much the same in the coming year: our athletes fighting adversaries on and off the field.
The urgent professionalisation of the NSFs with an accountable, paid CEO running the day-to-day affairs is the need of the hour, with selection calls taken at every level by competent authorities in a transparent manner. The Ministry has tried its bit by organising parallel national meets in various sports under the Khelo umbrella and appointing ad-hoc committees to run errant NSFs. But only a quick adoption of the 2017 Draft National Code for Good Governance in Sports formulated by the likes of Abhinav Bindra, Prakash Padukone, Anju Bobby George, among others, which for some unforeseen reason is yet to be implemented, can help clean up Indian sports.
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