WSN Service
NEW DELHI: Among the guidelines for clearing teams the provision in respect of no-cost-to-government is now snowballing into an Issue of contention. Simply put it is a green channel for teams to take part in competitions abroad without financial support from the Government I’m certain cases the Sports Ministry allows for enlarging the size of the contingent after stipulating the number of players eligible for help from the Government.
No doubt the objective governing such liberalization to provide international exposure to more players is laudable. But in working this great deal of resentment has been caused among the players. Invariably the federations after obtaining the signal from the Ministry tend to pass the buck to their affiliated units which in turn shift the burden of raising the resources to the players. It is true that the State helping hand but beyond a point they are unable to meet the demands Often institutional units such as the Railway Sports Control Board and the Services Sports Control Board operating within a limited budged find themselves in a predicament when far too many players seek the opportunity for a visit abroad. On the other hand help given on a selective basis causes more problems.
Players desiring to compete abroad once selected go to any length in search of funds. There is a case of a woman footballer who showed no hesitation in pawning the family jewels to finance a trip to Denmark offer all other avenues to raise funds were closed for her. Mercifully the tour was called off on a technical objection by the All India Football Federation. Recently the Table Tennis Federation of India demanded that the expenditure for the team to the Japan open in Tokyo should be met by the units to which the players selected are affiliated. This highlighted the predicament of a player in the caliber of Arup Basak whose employer the Railways refused to entertain any request for financing the tour Ultimately the Bengal Table Tennis Association which promoted Basak as a junior star in the State came to his rescue but the BTTA administration condemned the attitude of the TTF for not being able to find the resources to participate even in a prestigious event Sometimes the federations do act in an arbitrary manner Last year the Indian Hockey Federation nominated a Tamil Nadu official as the manager without consulting the State Association and then demanded Rs 20000 for the trip. The State Association refused to pay and was even prepared to forfeit its right to vote in the General Body meeting.
Whether the tour is cleared with cost or without the fact remains that the players represent the nation. Therefore only the best should be allowed to compete 50 that the players represent the nation. Therefore only the best should be allowed to compete so that the image of the country Is not sullied in any manner Instances of merit being sacrificed to the competitors ability to meet the expenditure have come to light in certain disciplines patronized by the affluent sections. Iris assumed that clearance under the no-cost-to-government basis is not subject to evaluation on the federations to submit the report of the manager and coach to the final authority which happens to be the Government as of today even if the visit is not financed by it.
To suggest a scrapping of this provision on account of the hardship it might throw on the “competitors” will in no way help Indian sport to grow in stature What does need to be stressed is the moral responsibility of the federations 19 building up a strong financial base. With the enlarging area of sponsorship it may be too difficult to get the funds required provided the federations are able come up with proposals that satisfy the sponsor The decision of Ramco Industries the Grand Master Viswanathan Anand in all his tournaments abroad case in point.
For the Sports Ministry the task is not over when a tour is cleared tinder this formula or that. A constant vigil is a must to see that the players are not pressured to foot their bill for participation in bringing honor to their country or victimized for failure on this score. The player power which is growing in many branches of sport has a vital role to play to eliminate the incongruities.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 4, 1991
