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Front Page >> Editorials > Story

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Import Policy
Why has India with a billion strong population not been able to produce even a single gold medal winner at the Olympics, which is by any standard the ultimate test for the sporting prowess of a country? Why has India not been able to make a dent in the international football scene, much less qualify for the Football World Cup? These questions should ideally be doing the round along the corridors of the Indian Olympic Association and the numerous sports bodies and organizations spread across the nook and corner of the country following the conclusion of one of the most spectacular sports event at Hyderabad, the 32nd National Games. 

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee almost sounded apologetic when he questioned why the country has not been able to produce a gold medallist at the Olympics and yes he hit the nail on the head when he observed that there must be something wrong when a country with a billion strong population cannot produce a single gold medal winner at the Olympics. 

The question from the Prime Minister is a very legitimate one but we are not at all amazed that Indian sports persons continue to be the whipping boys in the international sporting arena. Doing well at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games is fine but we would be fooling ourselves if we think that doing well at these games have made us world beaters. 

To take India to the sports map of the world what we need is a sound policy, a policy that is aimed at producing world class sportsmen and not something that gives room to politicians and retired bureaucrats to ‘nominate’ their near and dear ones to the country's contingent whenever India participates in any international sports meet.

In Andhra Pradesh we have a new National Games champion and while the next edition of the game is scheduled to be held at Assam, it would be interesting to see how many States will follow and adopt the import policy so successfully pursued by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The 32nd National Games was interesting not only because of the excellent performance put up by the host team but also because of the debates the import policy adopted by Naidu triggered. 

We have already stated that importing players may rob the real essence of the Games, but if this is going to be the accepted norms then so be it, for we are sure it will lead to more professionalism amongst the sportspersons and in the long run sports will ultimately gain. However we wish to lay down that transfer of players should be executed somewhat along the line of the European football circuit where the club intending to recruit a player from another club or country has to fork out a tidy amount not only to pay the fees of the player concerned but also to the ‘parent’ club. 

This, we feel would help the ‘nursery’ clubs in unearthing fresh talents and in case their finds decide to switch to another club or State then the benefits too should go to the club which nurtured and honed the raw talent of the player in question. In the ultimate analysis, sports today is a mega industry where money and finances have become indispensable and Chandrababu Naidu may have just started a trend, however disagreeable it may be to some.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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