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| Head Butting! |
| Monday June 22, 2009 |
| Bob Houghton is livid....many may not even know who this gentleman is and what has gotten him so angry... well he is the coach of the Indian Soccer team. We are currently ranked somewhere around 140 in the world and according to Houghton we are not going anywhere north from here. His reasoning is simple - There is not a single ground anywhere in the length and breadth of this country that is good enough for the national football team to prepare for an international tournament. And so the country known for its outsourcing prowess is now outsourcing its sportsmen! And the team is finally heading to Dubai for training. At first, it hurt. How could a westerner make such comments!!! It's incredulous. But then I realised he is saying this after being completely exasperated with the way our sporting system works. He was not wrong. After all he has been at the helm of affairs for almost four years now and while his team sits here and players get ready to play for Santosh Trophy, countries like Iran and Iraq are doing wonders at the ongoing Confederation Cup. In fact, Egypt beat Italy !! And here, I am not comparing India to a superpower. I am instead comparing it to countries who are worse off in terms of their domestic situation and countries whose economies are surviving on loans they get from other countries. These countries are playing well and earning respect for their efforts. It's pretty distressing to see that countries like New Zealand and South Africa whom Indians have only seen as cricketing nations are doing well in almost every sport that they play. I grew up hearing the same argument that in India, no one cares for any sport other than Cricket. But I have also seen that sports like Football or Hockey have had sponsorship coming their way. The next blame obviously falls on the government and bureaucracy. But then who is the government and bureaucracy? Isn't it made up of individuals like us? Don't they want the country to excel? Wouldn't their chests have pumped up with pride when the national anthem was played at Beijing after Abhinav Bindra won India's first ever individual gold? Don't they realize that their policies are hurting sports in the country? Sometimes it feels like they come from another planet. How else would you justify a hockey team being sent back from the airport as their visas were not done. And despite this, no heads roll. The same people continue to run sports bodies like their fiefdoms. Do they ever feel ashamed of themselves. What do they go and tell their families? Hey, I ruined one more career today!! It's because of these people that parents in India do not want their children to get into sports. Almost all my friends dropped out of football, cricket and hockey teams in tenth standard. None of them wanted to risk their careers. It would not have gotten them anywhere. Today they sport flourishing careers in every other field but sports. Had Houghton met these friends of mine before taking up coaching in India, he would not have taken up this assignment. And he would have saved himself the heartburn. And please can we stay away from criticizing him... saying that Houghton is getting paid to do the job! Perhaps, instead of focusing on Houghton's comments, if we spare the same time to put pressure on our babus and netas, maybe not out of their sense of duty, but embarrassment, they will be forced to act. |
Shailendra Mohan is a Principal Correspondent who has been with NDTV for four years. He has worked in the field for over seven years. Shailendra covers city happenings and crime stories and has a keen interest in news and happenings around the world.
