Sports should get rid of idiotic, joker bureaucrats, they have zero idea: Narinder Batra

The sports ministry’s decision to ask for prior notice from National Sport Federations (NSFs) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ahead of hosting international events has not gone down well with IOA president Narinder Batra.

“Of late, there have been many letters to federations saying that before hosting an event one needs to take permission from the government. Sometimes we have idiotic bureaucrats coming in and they have made everyone’s life miserable,” Batra said.

“You need some intelligent people who understand sports rather than some joker coming in from Mars and giving ideas, while they themselves have zero idea about what is happening.”

The NSFs are now required to notify the sports ministry well in advance before bidding for an event. The federations should also submit an approximate figure of financial assistance that may be required. If the NSFs fail to give prior information to the sports ministry, it may not extend its support regarding hosting the event.

“They are putting so many conditions that no sporting event can be hosted. This (taking prior permission) can happen for Olympics or Asian Games. But for small level events, where eight to 16 teams are coming, this is absolutely tough,” Batra said.

This is not the first time that sports ministry and IOA have come head to head. Earlier, on several occasions, the IOA has criticised the ministry and Sports Authority of India (SAI) for poor maintenance of several stadiums.