NEW DELHI: What exactly is one to make off India’s latest act of assertion of its “rightful place in sporting scheme of things”. With exactly three years to go for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, to be hosted by Birmingham, Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra has written to Kiren Rijiju informing the Union Sports Minister of IOA’s intention to boycott the Games and has sought a meeting on the matter.
The IOA’s unprecedented step came after the organisers dropped shooting from the Games programme in June despite months of lobbying by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) as well as former sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
The Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) executive board instead decided to include women’s cricket, para table tennis and beach volleyball.
In his letter to Rijiju proposing a boycott, Batra has lashed out at the CGF leadership for having an “India bashing mindset” and for “trying to change rules” whenever the country does well in the Commonwealth Games. He went to the extent of saying that India is no longer a colony of any country (read Britain).
“We have been noticing over a period of time that wherever India seems to be getting a grip of the game and performing well, then somehow we find that either the goal posts are shifted or rules are changed. We feel it is time for us in IOA/India to start asking tough questions and start taking tough positions,” Batra’s letter reads.
It bears noting of course in his first media interaction last month, Rijiju had dismissed any boycott talk, saying: “If you have to boycott, you have to ask the government because these decisions are not to be taken unilaterally, it has to be done through proper consultation.”
And India’s only Olympic Gold medallist, Abhinav Bindra, is against the calls for boycott. He urged the IOA to work closely with the CWG committee to get shooting in the core list of sports in the future.
“Boycotts don’t win you influence. They just make you irrelevant and punish other athletes. Would be far better if IOA did a campaign to load the CWG committees with their people and allies and push for the inclusion of shooting onto the core list of sports for the future,” Bindra posted on his Twitter timeline.
As for the CGF, on Sunday the body said it intends to meet with the IOA officials in the near future to help find a solution to the concerns raised.
“We absolutely want India to participate wholeheartedly in Birmingham 2022 and look forward to meeting our colleagues in India over the coming months to discuss their concerns and future ambitions,” CGF Media and Communications manager Tom Degun told PTI in an e-mail reply.
Echoing Bindra’s position, Degun said: “We are naturally disappointed that our colleagues in India have chosen not to join the other Commonwealth nations and territories in Rwanda for the 2019 CGF General Assembly; particularly as this is where the future strategic direction of the Commonwealth Sports Movement is debated and approved by our 71 members.”
SportzPower’s position on the matter is as follows: While it is clearly a loss for India as far as its potential medal count is concerned, it is not as if the Commonwealth Games are a real barometer of India’s standing on the world stage. The Asian Games would actually be a much better gauge. And for many athletes, Birmingham 2022 would be good preparation for the 2022 Asian Games, to be held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China in September 2022.
Depriving other Indian athletes as a fallout of IOA’s perceived conspiracy notions is not really the way the national Olympic body should be going. More so one that represents a country that has so little to boast of in terms of Olympic pedigree.
Keeping India’s long term sporting interests front and centre should be Rijiju’s ONLY position if and when the IOA chief does meet the minister.
