Opinion: Indian sports admins are in a fool's paradise; urgent need to wake up to reality

We Indians always seem to be living in a land of dreams where everything looks rosy. Often our media too does the same and does no investigation. In reality, nothing is functioning well. Our government is telling us that India will host the 2036 Olympic Games, and it will showcase India’s progress and organising ability in sports.

However, during a recent visit by officials of the Indian Olympic Association to the IOC headquarters in Switzerland, the IOC exposed India’s glaring deficiencies. This served as a wake-up call for the occupants of the Indian dreamland. It is reported that the IOC told the Indian delegation, “Get your house in order before you think of hosting the Olympics.”

IOC raised three major issues

The first one was regarding the ongoing power struggle between the IOA President P.T. Usha and other officials in the same body and the sports ministry. Usha has been at loggerheads with the executive council members over the appointments of CEO Raghuram Iyer and her executive assistant, Ajay Kumar Narang.

In a report in The Tribune, it was stated that the majority of the EC members stalled the EC meeting last year over Iyer’s continuation. Ever since then, the matter has led to bad blood and a lack of cooperation between the two parties.

Moreover, the IOA and the sports ministry are also at loggerheads. All this is over the recognition of the Indian Golf Union (IGU). The ministry and the IOA recognised different bodies, both of which claimed to be the real IGU. So a conflict was created, this time between the IOA President and the Indian government.

The picture that arises out of all this is one of chaos and confusion within the apex sports body of India.

Rampant usage of drugs

The next issue that the IOC raised concerned the rampant drug use by Indian athletes which is growing by leaps and bounds every year. No less than 62 Indian athletes have been caught doping / or in possession of banned substances, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics. There are several junior-level athletes who are also on that list. India is now second in the world where use of banned substances by athletes is rampant. Only Russia has more such cases.

The doping crisis is no longer confined to an errant few. It is widespread and well entrenched. At almost all sports meets, if one visits the washrooms, one will see syringes and needles lying in the waste bin. This correspondent himself witnessed this occurrence at a weightlifting meet more than fifteen years ago. So, one can only guess when the malpractice started. However, as long as our athletes win medals, everyone turns a blind eye to such misdeeds. But it spoils our image in world events.

Declining standard of sports

The third subject that the IOC took up was the steady decline of India in the last five Olympic Games. We get very enthusiastic because Neeraj Chopra bags medals in the Javelin throw. Sometimes a Manu Bhaker and a few shooters emerge and give us medals. In the euphoria, everyone loses track of the bigger picture.

But there is no doubt that we are on the decline. Let us take a look at India’s ranking in the last five Olympic Games as pointed out by the IOC.

In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, we were ranked 50.

In 2012, in London, we were ranked 55.

In 2016 at Rio, we were ranked 67.

In 2020, in Tokyo, we were ranked 48 (this was the only time we improved).

In 2024 at Paris our rank was 71.

The lack of Gold medals is hurting us. At the Beijing Olympics, we won only three medals. But since one of them was a gold medal (won by Abhinav Bindra), we placed 50th. Again in Tokyo, we improved because of Neeraj Chopra’s gold.

Too slow and too little

But our success is too slow and too little. Other countries are overtaking us rapidly. A small island nation like Jamaica, with much less infrastructure than India, regularly produces world record breakers like Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce, and many more.

By the time 2036 comes around, we will probably be ranked 100. We will end up being the laughing stock of the world. We will be the only host country with such a poor performance. And if our athletes are caught using steroids, the shame will be even greater. Why is the Indian government so hell bent on hosting the Games? The IOC is right. Let us improve our system, and let us win more medals first.

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