Indian sports has suffered a lot due to corruption in the sports administration. It is time to end it.
For the last 8 months, no Indian athlete has represented the country officially in any multi discipline events. This is because the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) was suspended from the Olympic movement for being corrupt and not following rulesas laid out by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The reason for suspension is due to IOA's poor ethical and governance standards.Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra on Tuesday lashed out at IOA officials for refusing to accept International Olympic Committee's directive to bar charge sheeted persons from contesting elections and asked the world body to stick to its earlier stand.
IOA's Special General Body Meeting on Sunday had sought to dilute the chargesheet clause by proposing to apply the sanction to only those who are convicted and sentenced to a jail term of more than two years. They had argued that under Indian law, chargesheeted persons can stand even Parliamentary elections.
Following the IOC’s charter will ensure that sports in India are free from corruption. Shockingly, the IOA is trying to 'negotiate' from following the IOC charter.
It is high time that Indian sport is reclaimed from the clutches of politicians and their cronies. Despite the abundance of sporting talent in the country, India's poor performance in the international sporting arena is precisely due to the unscrupulous, nepotistic ways of sports administrators. Politicians have no business running sports. Managing sports bodies should be the exclusive domain of former athletes and professional administrators. It is only by refocussing on the sportsperson that Indian sport can punch at its weight rather than far below its potential.
As an Olympic gold winning athlete, Bindra believes that stringent ethical standards should be non negotiable. It is time, we as citizens, demand corruption-free sports administration in India ! Isn't it ??
