Viren Rasquinha, former captain of the Indian hockey team and chief operating officer of Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), a foundation set up by sporting legends such as Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi, tells Aabhas Sharma why sports in the country are in such a mess
Why are sports in India in such a mess and what, according to you, has led to this?
There are two reasons. First and foremost, we have to abolish the system of honourary officials and administrators. It has not worked all this while and it never will. It’s high time we get on board paid professionals, be it administrators or marketers, and have some transparency. Second, we have to make sure that people brought on board are accountable. The buck has to stop somewhere.
Is everything to be blamed on how Indian sports bodies are managed? Or is there more to the rot that has set in over so many years?
It’s all inter-linked. That’s why transparency has to be there. For years, we haven’t had any (transparency). You can’t blame the government for not correcting things. Sports is all about getting the right people and that doesn’t mean just picking the right players and athletes. You have to pick the right management as well. And, most important, you have to pay them well. Treat it as an investment and not as an expense. For instance, pay a CEO Rs 20 lakh a year, if required. But, make sure that this leads to raising of at least Rs 2 crore.
The lack of funds is often cited as one of the major factors why India languishes in sports. Do you think that’s the case?
That certainly is the case. It’s a vicious cycle. The lack of transparency means you can’t keep track of where the money has gone. Money is there, but it is not channelled properly. When people say companies don’t pump in enough money, then somewhere down the line you have to sit back and ask why don’t they do so.
You mean to say they are willing to invest, but the system discourages them from doing so.
Absolutely. Take hockey. There is still an emotional connect, the passion still runs high. If tomorrow, the corporate world sees that there will be some returns, or the national team starts performing well, I can tell you sponsors will start queuing outside the Indian Hockey Federation’s headquarters. But you have to show that their investment — and it is an investment — will yield returns.
Speaking of hockey, it’s been seven years since you last donned the national colours. Have you seen any change during that period?
Unfortunately, not much has changed. The same mistakes are being made again and again. As I said earlier, honourary officials have to go. We will continue to be just a participating nation, rather than a nation that puts up serious fights for international medals and honours. Having said that, I genuinely feel these mistakes can be rectified. At the cost of repeating myself, I have to say that transparency in Indian sports has to be there if we want to be a sporting power.
People say that poor infrastructure, facilities and manpower are the main reasons for the state Indian sports finds itself in. Do you think that is the case?
I actually don’t believe that. Yes, there are certain things that need an overhaul and can be changed for good. But look at Belarus. A country, which ranks 69th in terms of gross domestic product and 84th in terms of population, won 16 medals at Beijing Olympics, including four gold. Are we trying to say that our infrastructure is worse than that of Belarus? No, it’s just that they utilise their resources better.
When you say utilisation of resources, you mean to say facilities and stadia?
Not only that. We need better support staff, better physios and better doctors. These are vital resources which we take for granted and more often than not ignore. And believe me, there are more than enough qualified people to do these things. But then, who is actually looking into these matters. One of the things we do at OGQ is to make sure our athletes get the required support. Support doesn’t begin and end with money. There’s more to it and that’s something we neglect.
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How much of this mess is due to the lack of sporting talent?
Talent in the country has always been there. Be it hockey, shooting, boxing or any other sport. It’s just that they don’t see it worthy enough to spend their time on. Unless that talent is nurtured properly, it will go down as a a complete waste.
We have seen how quickly people turn to cricket and say that “India is a cricket-crazy country, other sports don’t matter”. Do you agree with this?
No one can deny the popularity of cricket. But rather than casting envious glances towards other sports, we should take valuable lessons from how cricket transformed itself. Till the 1980s, both cricket and hockey were almost at par with each other. But after the World Cup win in 1983, authorities running the game got the right people, who had a certain kind of vision, and could see the tremendous potential we had. Is a World Cup win less than a gold medal? But what have we done in shooting ever since Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in Beijing? One has to capitalise on things like these. Unless we do that and get the right people on board, things will remain the same.