The never-ending tenures of sport administrators in the country led by Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi has been a major concern for the sports ministry for some time now. The IOA and its affiliated bodies continue to be stoic on this issue, while important matters like the development of sports is getting overlooked.
In their bid to end the political hold over sports, Olympians including former hockey skipper Pargat Singh, and athletes Ashwini Nachappa, Reeth Abraham and Bhogeshwar Barua have joined hands to start an initiative, Clean Sports India, which was launched here on Wednesday.
The initiative is an effort to create an environment where in the National Sports Federations, associations and the clubs are managed essentially by former sportspersons as well as remove the influence of drugs from the game.
“The only way to bring about a change in this country is to challenge the system,” B.V.P. Rao, convener of the initiative, said.
“An organisational set-up is essential to run any good system. It will be fair to say that the administrators are responsible for the sorry state of affairs of sports in this country,“ former hockey captain Pargat Singh, who is the president of Clean Sports India, said.