The reason why India is not a sporting power

Why does India, with its 1.3bn strong population, win so few medals at the Olympics and other global sporting events?Almost every Indian working abroad is forced to look for the nearest hiding place when he is inevitably asked this question every time the Olympics are on.While even countries with much lesser resources like Kenya and Ethiopia have plenty to shout about during the Games, thanks to their mighty distance runners, India with its galloping economy and super power dreams, just about manages to register on the medal table, thanks to one or two flash-in-the-pan performances.Well, if there are still people out there mystified by the whole India-at-the-Olympics conundrum, they only need to look at a recent bit of news emerging out of the country.The Indian Olympic association (IOA) at its annual general meeting on Tuesday decided to honour two of its former presidents by making them “presidents for life.”While the idea itself is ridiculous in this day and age where democratic norms govern sports bodies in most countries with even the tenures of office-bearers limited to two or three terms, what takes the cake in this case is the display of brazen disregard for ethics and morals by the IOA.The officials in question, Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala, have been under the scanner for a long time for corruption related to the Commonwealth Games which India hosted in 2010 in New Delhi.They are accused of scamming the country to the tune of millions of dollars, and Kalmadi, who was IOA president from 1996 to 2011, even spent 10 months in jail where he came up with the classically lame explanation that he was suffering from dementia to put off investigators.However, India’s notoriously slow and complicated legal process ensured he got out of jail, and in 2012 he was allowed by a Delhi court to attend the London Olympic Games. But Kalmadi’s desire to attend the opening ceremony was scuttled by the Delhi High Court which said his participation in the function would be an “embarrassment for the nation.”The furore caused by the IOA’s decision forced Kalmadi to reject the post yesterday, but it nevertheless established the body’s reputation as an organisation which feels confident about getting away with anything.“The (sports) ministry will never accept such tainted people in the Indian Olympic Association and that is why we have expressed our reservations right after they were appointed last evening,” Indian sports minister Vijay Goel said. “This move is against the constitution of IOA and is not acceptable to the Sports Ministry. I am disappointed by the decision because both are facing cases of corruption.”Goel reiterated his stance on Twitter: “Transparency and accountability is vital in sports; until Kalmadi and Chautala resign or are removed, we will not deal with IOA in any form.”It is no secret that self-serving officials have been the bane of Indian sports for decades. It is a pity that this still continues to be the case, inevitably leading to the country’s embarrassing performances at the Olympics.