Strange Bedfellows !

Politics in sports and politicians in sports bodies have come to stay .In most of the sports bodies the writ of the politicians runs large.Those sports bodies where politicians are absent,their place is taken by bureaucrats and the same story repeats itself .... a nation of a billion people fails to win a single gold medal in Olympics .India continues to languish towards the bottom in rankings of all major sports.Cricket is not a global sport by any stretch of imagination ,only a handful of countries(nine to be precise,test status) play it and even there we win occasionally and lose regularly.
There was a time when India was a power house in Asian Football but not anymore.The All India Football Federation(AIFF) is presided over by Priya Ranjan Dashmunshi(Union Minister and a Sonia Gandhi loyalist)and that too for the last fifteen years.The standard of Indian football has declined with the rise of Mr. Dashmunshi.This correlation may not indicate a cause effect relationship but it does point to the grim reality that a professional setup is urgently needed.Mr. Dashmunshi should be allowed to choose between continuing as a Union Minister or as the President of AIFF.We all know what will be his choice or for that matter of Mr. Sharad Pawar who is lording over BCCI absolutely unnecessarily.A nation of one billion people surely cannot be short on manpower that people need to occupy multiple posts.
Mr.Pawar and Mr. Dashmunshi are lording over cricket and football respectively but they surely are not the only ones.This malaise runs deep and wide.To name just a few,Jagdish Tytler(1984 riot accused,Congress) heads Judo Association,Prof.Vijay Malhotra(BJP) heads Archery Federation,Supercop K.P.S.Gill has made Indian Hockey Federation his prisoner....and the list goes on and on.
While removing politicians from these sports bodies may not bring dramatic results overnight, but it would surely be a step in the right direction.The sports bodies need to be professionalised and the people holding various posts should be paid regular salaries and made accountable for the performance of athletes.