Ranking of sports federations is not going to address any of sports’ most compelling problems (File)
Sport does not lend itself well to the esoteric or the mysterious. It is out there, with athletes baring sinews and muscles and vulnerabilities and triumphs in front of gawking audiences. A gold, silver or bronze at the Olympics is as revealing a performance appraisal as it can get. Now India’s sports ministry has decided it will toss into the mix a few fun and games of its own for the (safari) suits. National Sports Federations (NSFs) administrators, high on self-importance and low on accountability, will have a ranking race of their own: Who’s the best NSF of them all?
Judged on undefined concepts of administrative capability, transparency, talent-spotting ability and medal count of athletes, the NSFs will be assigned rankings each year to “promote healthy competition between sports bodies.”
Just why badminton’s governing body should grapple with wrestling’s chieftains, instead of looking at crash courses for its coaches to look after the burgeoning crop of shuttlers, or why hockey satraps should go head to head with athletics’ suits, instead of fast-tracking India’s return to the Olympics podium in which the country boasted eight gold medals 40 years ago, remains unclear. How will hockey, with only two medals, compete with shooting which had 45 at Rio? India had two medals to show at the last Games, and failed to resolve a simple question like who should represent the country in the 74 kg category of wrestling after a protracted controversy. Four tennis players with 37 Grand Slams between them have not figured out over five Olympics how to bring back one doubles medal.
Solutions to India’s sporting problems must prioritise sporting needs, not HR mandated KRAs for administrators. Success stories of effective sports administrations don’t need spreadsheets and ranking charts. India’s poor sports administration and its inability to build a system must be addressed. But NSF rankings is not an idea in that direction.
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