The much-awaited elections of office bearers for the Archery Association of India (AAI), held recently, proved to be a damp squib with the incumbent president and his staunch followers returning to power with an overwhelming majority.

The victory also gave the BJP strongman from Delhi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, another chance to be at the helm of the national body . For the first time in the history of the AAI, the challenge to Malhotra’s lengthy reign was widely expected to provide some surprise, if not real shock.

Code Talk

The wily politician that he is, Malhotra managed the elections very well, and in the process, sent a strong message to the Sports Ministry that neither he nor his followers care much about the sports code.

The code debars anybody who is over 70 years of age or occupies the president’s chair for more than three terms, from contesting or holding an executive post in any national federation. Malhotra is an octogenarian. The Sports Ministry can, at best, stop funding the Indian archery team to international competitions and in procuring costly equipment, simply because the AAI has not accepted the code.

Archers are indeed upset with the development and fear lack of Government support will put back the sport by a few years. Top archers, who do not want to be named, feel whatever the game has achieved in India has been mainly due to the Government patronage. “It is just not taking care of equipment or funding the team’s trip abroad. To maintain a high level of performance at the international level over a period of time, the Indian teams need a foreign coach, preferably a Korean, and other support staff, including a psychologist. Without Government support, can the AAI provide a stable and effective system to produce results?” they question.

“Nobody in the AAI has cared to scrutinize the debacle at the London Olympics as yet. All those European and Latin American countries that did exceedingly well at the Olympics had Korean coaches. But the Indian officials’ reluctance to employee a Korean coach was appalling, to say the least,” they bemoan.

To keep the show going, the AAI has to explore new ways to generate funds on its own in case the Government withdraws support. The existing sponsorship contract with Sahara India will come up for renewal in early 2013. What will Sahara’s stand be once the Government stops funding the sport is something that the AAI will have to ponder.

Indian archery is set to face some really difficult times. Officials, archers and all those who are associated with the sport understand the situation, but the onus of keeping the sport going despite encountering difficult times lies squarely with the new office-bearers of the AAI. They must take all the stakeholders into confidence in charting a road map that will stand the test of time.

>sabanayakan.s@thehindu.co.in

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