CHENNAI: Out of all acronyms from an Indian perspective, one, AQI (Air Quality Index), has received a lot of airtime in recent years. Not without reason. Over the last few years, Delhi, the whole northern part of the country actually, sees their AQI levels shoot up. Delhi has been shrouded in a blanket of toxic haze all through the winter and the same issue came to haunt the India Open badminton event, a 750 level meet. But the malaise ran deeper in this particular competition. It reflects poorly on our understanding of basic hygiene.
Pollution, games halted due to bird droppings inside the stadium, a monkey inadvertently wandering across the stands... it has led to curt statements from players about playing conditions. Inescapable but avoidable storylines. Sunday was the only day when the game was not halted due to ‘unwanted debris’ from the IG Stadium roof. It is a brutal reminder of similar hygiene and infrastructure issues during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
To put things into perspective, the India Open is one of the most prestigious badminton events the country has been hosting since its inception in 2008. It started as a Grand Prix Gold event before being elevated to a Superseries BWF World Tour in 2011. It is at par with Denmark Open, Singapore Open, China Masters and one rung below the 1000 BWF Tour events. To understand the enormity of the event, one just needs to see the figures of participation -- 250 players from 23 countries including all top players from the world. What complicates matters is that the venue would be hosting the World Championships in August.
Organisers, the Badminton Association of India (BAI), tried to downplay the issue on the first day when Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark said that she hoped it was going to be better than the other hall (KD Jadhav Hall). “I think it's still very dirty and really unhealthy conditions for all the players,” she had said on Tuesday. Another Denmark player, World No 3 Anders Antonsen said he had pulled out of the tournament because of pollution. She was not alone as other players also complained about the playing conditions. What was more embarrassing was that bird droppings continued to affect the Field of Play on multiple days.
Most of the players also said it was cold inside the hall and the organizers said it was because the size of the hall was too big. Pigeons were everywhere and were disrupting the matches as well.
What seemed to have topped the charts was a monkey nonchalantly wandering across the stands. Yes, there have been disruptions in other competitions across the world but basic hygiene, stadium upkeep and pollution were never issues. There has been quite a bit of clamour to shift India Open out of Delhi because of pollution but the problem runs beyond shifting.
The BAI has been putting up a brave face but we must also understand that the maintenance of the stadium is with the Sports Authority of India. It is SAI that takes care of five sports complexes in the Capital. The JN Stadium, IG Stadium complex, the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium (hockey), Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Pool Complex and the Karni Singh Shooting Ranges. And they have an annual budget for each of the complexes for maintenance. There is a specific budget for each venue and runs into more than `100 crore per year for the five complexes.
Under-utilisation a big issue
After conversing with quite a few former SAI top officials, it can safely be said that the problem is endemic and something that the SAI cannot wash their hands off. Yes, a sports body cannot control pollution or the AQI levels but when it comes to playing conditions and basic hygiene, officials cannot hide behind a garb of excuses.
One major drawback of each of the complexes in Delhi is lack of maintenance. The IG stadium is not an exception either and it is not a fallacy that a locked stadium cannot be maintained. The BAI got the stadium weeks before the India Open for overlays. Getting a stadium that is locked most part of the year is not easy to be fixed within weeks. According to SAI’s Annual Report 2023-24, the stadium held only seven national camps. There were 30 sports bookings and 43 non-sport bookings. The numbers indicate that it is grossly under-utilized.
SAI sources did admit that presence of pigeons in the high altars of stadium premises is a real issue. But their reason seems baffling: “With large openings (air vents, ducts and shafts) in the stadium, it's a challenge to completely block entry of pigeons. Efforts are being made to block the vents and deploy nets, wherever possible.” So the officials were in the know of things and still allowed the competition to go ahead. Even if India Open is a test event, bird droppings and a monkey casually loitering in the stands are not acceptable by any means.
The civil and electrical parts in all the stadiums are under SAI and renovation and other works are carried out by the Central Public Works Department. Organisational issues are not restricted to IG Stadium alone. During the Para Worlds at the JN Stadium in 2025, coaches were bitten by dogs.
For a country that is hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and is keen to host the Olympics in 2036, such organisational issues must be avoided at any cost. For that to happen, all stakeholders must take responsibility for the mess. Otherwise, there will be no improvement at all.