The people who get into the depths of the field of sports are
the ones, who would be able to fathom the reasons, pertaining to the problems
of sportspersons. In the countries, where sports academies or training centers
are well-equipped and supported financially by government bodies or private
sectors, sports persons have chance to excel. They have the confidence to
select any sport as a choice of career and even discontinue education.
Indian society encourages you, to aspire to be a doctor,
engineer, banker, government employees or even actors, or anything that comes
with a certainty to earn your life. The maximum a parent can think in the field
of sports, is a career in cricket, especially after the emergence of the
glamorous Indian Premiere League!
Can you find anyone around you assuring you a career in
short-put? Who knows about Heptathelon, rowing etc.? How many of us can imagine
ourselves watching the short-put game in series like Olympics or Asian Games?
How many of us have at least read about Inderjeet Singh, India’s first track
and field athlete to qualify for the Rio Olympics, who has set a benchmark of
20.65m in short-put in the 19th Federation Cup in Mangalore. Yet
throughout his career, he received no financial assistance from the Government,
sponsors or the federation, and so currently he is in huge debts.
Most of the Indian mountaineers share a similar ethos as
they arrange the huge sum of money for any expedition, on their own, from their
savings, taking massive loans, selling jewelry or mortgaging the properties.
Things get more difficult and discouraging for a
sportsperson with fake promises and unjust prejudice by the Government towards
them. Mohammad Asab, a Commonwealth Games broze medalist was promised a
Government job by the State Chief Minister. Sadly, he is still struggling to
get his file passed for that job.
One of the recent example, is the World renowned badminton
champion Saina Nehwal’s rejection to the Padma Bhushan claim. She openly protested
about the injustice she faced, from the sports ministry of India. Check the link: http://www.abplive.in
These few stories are like drops in the oceans. Financial constraints,
gender bias, fake assurances form the root cause of societal unacceptance of a
sports career. Certain sprots like golf, are not even affordable for the middle
class and hence comes the class-based discrimination in sports. Can a common man afford a quality bicycle
worth more than 2 lakhs ?
India is a country where the most talked about topics
include cricket, Bollywood and politics. So often Indian athletes are either
carried away or are compelled to drift their career from sports to fields of
entertainment, like acting, modeling, business or even politics to safeguard
their living.
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