BJP leader VK Malhotra is heading the Archery Association of India for more than 30 years, while Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's term as the Cycling Federation of India head is into its 14th year. Congress leader Captain Satish K Sharma heads the Aero Club for more than two decades, while businessman B S Adityan has been at the top of the Volleyball Federation of India for 12 years. Suresh Kalmadi has been at IOA's helm since 1996.
No doubt Kalmadi has done some serious work by getting CWG for India. But his is a rarest of rare deeds, not seen much in other federations.
Suresh Kalmadi needs to avoid limelight now and concentrate on the Commonwealth games.
In a breakthrough order by the Ministry of sport in India, the terms of the administrators of these associations have been limited to a maximum of 12 years. In response to the orders approved by the Minister of Sport M.S. Gill, IOA chief Suresh Kalmadi has called the orders ”unconstitutional” and “draconian”. Kalmadi has been continuously in controversy for quiet a time, whether its the bad functioning of Indian Olympic Association or the delay in getting ready the various projects for CWG.
His only saving grace has been that the order seems to be at the wrong time as the Commonwealth Games, for which Kalmadi and other Sports Federation Administrators are responsible, are only 150 days away. An all-out battle between the Sports Ministry and the IOA at this point of time will only prove to be disastrous for sport in India.
However, it is a fact that there is little transparency in the system and federations headed by these politicos. Apart from Praful Patel’s AIFF that, seemingly, has made advances in the realm of Indian Football; all others have failed to even make a mark. The National Rifle Association of India headed by Digvijay Singh – has been under constant attack under the light of Abhinav Bindra’s criticism of the Association. Suresh Kalmadi himself, supported Bindra’s criticism of the treatment that is doled out to the players by the association. The website of NRAI not unlike most other sports federations is a stub. It does not match the standards of transparency and otherwise, set by their colleagues at AIFF.
Federations like the TTFI (Table Tennis Federation of India), AAI (Archery Association of India) headed by Ajay Singh Chautala and V.K. Malhotra respectively, have little to show for. Their games and their associations are lying paralyzed in anonymity. They themselves have busy schedules in their political setup. Their efforts, if any, are reflected in the medals won by hard working sportsmen, who inspite of facing such seclusion have done well enough at the international stage.The AITA (All India Tennis Association) headed by Mr. Yashwant Sinha, since the year 2000, that is a decade now, is in tatters. On the name of development in the game, they could come up only with a structure inspired from the IPL, called the Indian Tennis League. This was supposed to go off in 2008 but is still in the cold bag. Now the AITA is planning to revive the idea. The website of the AITA incessantly shows the “page not found” sign when explored.
The big question to be asked is why should these administrators be retained even after twelve fruitless years? A time of twelve years is long enough to revolutionize the whole system and big enough to start from scratch and build a mega structure. These sports federations have failed at providing the most basic of needs to players and have done nothing to popularize their respective sports.
These Sports Federations have their jobs cut out for now. They have to put up a good show at the Commonwealth in Delhi, both as hosts and participants. Because they have a sword hanging above their heads. But for now, keep the focus on the CWG only, please.
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