CHENNAI: The sports ministry has asked all the National Sports Federations, who were part of the Asian Games, to be part of a review meeting on Thursday. They apparently want to know what happened to the elite athletes who were part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, but failed to win medals. India's reputation was salvaged in the last three days of the Asian Games which was held between September 19 and October 4. In the last few days, India won 11 gold medals.
One has to commend the sports ministry's efforts to ensure all athletes who are part of the Olympic and Asian Games programme are supported and funded every cycle. There is hardly any dearth of funds with some private organisations chipping in too. It is understood that the sports ministry has taken serious cognizance of below-par performances. The sports ministry has even shared some figures which seemed quite interesting. It apparently spent Rs 27.16 crore on 34 elite athletes in nine disciplines like badminton, athletics and shooting but performed below their best. The ministry also highlighted that around 89 experienced athletes in 23 disciplines came back without a medal. The ministry also took note that India did not defend 20 gold medals it won in the last edition including that in squash, athletics and badminton. They are not happy with badminton performances as the sport could manage only one team bronze in men's section.
Going by the list of Sports Authority of India's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) athletes of 48 (on website), 35 competed in eight disciplines at the Games in disciplines like archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, shooting, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. They came back with 21 medals, including six gold medals. The TOPS figure in the Aiming for Aichi Asian Games speaks about 77 athletes in TOPS core group that would include the hockey teams. One of the stars of the Asian Games, Kumkum Mohod, is not even in the TOPS development list. Among the positives, the ministry had highlighted was that 106 debutants had a share of 41 medals.
Sports ministry has been very active for the last few years. The review of performances is fine but it should not be restricted to just NSFs and athletes as is noted in their circular to all the NSFs invited for the meeting on Thursday. This is also an opportunity for the sports ministry to assess its own programmes and policies.
There are reasons for that. The NSFs' proposals are sanctioned by the SAI and sports ministry after evaluation and discussions. The high performance managers/directors and national coaches are appointed by SAI and TOPS look after the programmes of all athletes who are part of the Olympic programme. The TOPS athletes’ requests are cleared by a Mission Olympic Cell that is selected by the sports ministry.
The role of MOC is quite clear: "The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) conducts a meeting every week in order to evaluate the proposals of the athletes. The committee is also responsible for periodically conducting review of athlete's progress and performances. Based on the committee’s recommendation, athletes may be included, retained or excluded from the TOP Scheme."
Sports is unpredictable and therein lies the excitement. Instead of evaluating the performances of the athletes, the TOPS should look at whether they were supporting the right athletes and relook at the role of the MOC in selections and weeding out. The TOPS list has been already pruned and has 77 sportspersons including the two hockey teams. It is not just the fault of NSFs alone. The entire system should be evaluated.
One must also take into account the absence of a SAI Director General since the last one left. The sports secretary has additional charge of a unit that runs the Indian Olympic sporting system. Without a DG, the onus is on TOPS CEO to look into policies and programmes of NSFs including Annual Calendar of Training and Competitions.
The sports ministry also should look into the role of private organisations who are supporting athletes and their interference, if any. Some of the sportspersons are funded by TOPS as well as private non-profit organisations and at times, this leads to conflict of ideas. At times, this also creates friction between NSFs and private organisations. There have been instances when athletes were accommodated under pressure from such organisations. Perhaps, it's time all stakeholders sit together and find ways to support each other rather than acting unilaterally.
The sports ministry should also look into sports that have come back without a medal. Take for instance, fencing. The sport had 20 athletes at the Games but had no medals to show. Same with canoeing and kayaking that had 19 players. Esports and cycling had 15 and 14; Rugby Sevens had 13), while swimming 12. There were seven equestrian riders; others were: gymnastics, judo, karate, tennis, teqball, sport climbing, surfing, taekwondo and volleyball. This raises a serious question about rankings in Asia, which was the criteria for selections as some of the players exited in the Round of 16.