On Sunday, Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar ordinary an invitation from the Indian Olympicassociation to turn out to be a Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian contingent to the imminent 2016 Olympic video games in Rio de Janiero. Tendulkar isn’t on my own – he joins the ranks of Abhinav Bindra, an Olympic gold-medallist shooter and Hindi movie actor Salman Khan. tune composer AR Rahman has alsobeen extended an invitation to be a cheerleader for the crew.
The appointment has raised several questions, one of that is: What exactly will these Goodwill Ambassadors do? The Indian Olympic association has not addressed this specifically. however whencriticised for appointing Salman Khan, it vaguely defended itself via talking about how Khan might popularise Olympic sports inside the us of a.
but all said and executed, with the manner the Indian Olympic affiliation is going about things, there may be a wonderful opportunity that on the stop of the games, India would have greater Goodwill Ambassadors than medal-winners.
possibly as opposed to extending greater energy on public members of the family sporting events, the Indian Olympic association could reflect onconsideration on fixing those issues.
1. The mess within its personal ranks
In December 2012, the international Olympic affiliation, the governing frame of the Olympic video games, banned the Indian Olympic affiliation for permitting an election, tainted with irregularities, to take place. Thisbrought about a two–yr ban on Indian athletes competing under the countrywide flag in worldwideactivities. The ban became best lifted in February 2014 when the Indian agency, after a great deal dilly-dallying, held a sparkling election wherein Narayana Ramachandran turned into elected president.
however that doesn’t mean matters have got better. In September 2015, the Delhi high court docketadded a scathing verdict in opposition to Ramachandran, calling on India’s sports ministry to take lower back his Rashtriya Khel Protshan Puraskar award after he changed into determined responsible of making fake claims approximately his contributions to the sport of squash.
In fact, there may be extreme infighting inside the Indian Olympic affiliation. Many affiliated sportsfederations have tried during the last 12 months to oust Ramachandran as president. Hockey India president Narinder Batra even alleged that the Indian Olympic association president had offered cash to vote for him. but Ramachandran maintains to stay president of each the Indian Olympic affiliation and the arena Squash Federation in what’s a completely particular battle of interest.
2. (without a doubt) giving Indian athletes a risk to qualify
Amiya Kumar Mallick and Srabani Nanda, each younger promising athletes from Odisha, should havecertified for the Olympics ultimate Sunday. in the one hundred metres men’s sprint on the Indian Grand Prix at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, Mallick clocked 10.09 seconds; within the ladies’ssprint, Nanda clocked 11.23 seconds. both the timings have been well above Olympic qualifyingrequirements.
The simplest hitch? A power reduce at the venue ensured that the athletes’ timings should simplest be recorded manually, which couldn’t be taken into consideration for Olympic qualification, in line with theregulations. due to his avoidable mistakes, young athletes ignored out on what should have been one of the best moments of their careers. because it occurs in this us of a, the organisers were busy passing thegreenback – the Athletics Federation of India blamed the Delhi sports activities Federation, the Delhi frameblamed the sports activities Authority of India.
two days later at the identical venue, four athletes have been asked to prevent their training for the Olympics in order that a film shoot starring Salman Khan could proceed unhindered.
3. Bickering and factionalism in its affiliated units
If the Indian Olympic isn’t always able to get its residence in order, one cause may be the truth that thecountrywide sports federations which can be affiliated to it also are in foremost crisis.
India does not have a acknowledged boxing federation for the reason that Indian Boxing Federationbecome suspended in 2012 via the world body, the worldwide Boxing association. given that then, Indian boxing has been in turmoil, run through an advert-hoc committee appointed by way of the arena governingbody. Indian boxing faces a race against time – if they’re unable to shape a brand new federation via can also 14, India’s lone boxer who has certified for the Olympics this year Shiv Thapa runs the risk of expulsion.
other Indian Olympic affiliation-affiliated federations which have been derecognised by the Union sports activities ministry consist of the All India Tennis Federation, the Basketball Federation of India and the Gymnastics Federations of India. The reasons for their non-popularity are the kind of stuff that Indianrecreation watchers have end up painfully familiar with listening to approximately – infighting and factionalism. but the most important sufferers are the athletes who’re pressured to play out their careers amid uncertainty and disaster.
