NEW DELHI,
October 18, 2012. Even as the Ministry of Sports in India has
identified focus disciplines such as hockey, wrestling, athletics and boxing in
which the country can train sportspersons and win medals in international
sporting events, FICCI is leading from the front to get ‘Industry’ status to
sports. Such a status would lead to flow of funds into sports and lead to
innovation in sports technology.
These government and FICCI initiatives were unveiled here
today at the inaugural session of the two-day ‘TURF 2012’, 4th Global
Sports Summit.
Addressing the summit, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy
Chief Minister and Minister of Sports of Punjab, said: “We do not
have a plan or target for sports and it is not a priority in our country. There
is no sense of security attached to a career in sports. We first need to change
the mindset and see sports as a lucrative and successful full-time career
option. To encourage students and parents, we must recognise sports as a
worthwhile activity.”
“In Punjab, we plan to open
sports schools in all districts in the next three years. Also, Punjab Sports Institute
is in the pipeline and is expected to be ready in three years. The institute
will be armed with world-class facilities and we plan to have joint ventures
with international players who will train and coach our children. We believe
that for a sportsperson to compete on the world stage, he or she requires
minimum 10,000 hours of training. Hence, we need to identify talent at the
early age of six or seven years, so that by the time they attain the age of 17
years he or she is competent to face the competition at the world stage,”
remarked Mr. Badal.
On the occasion, FICCI-SkillsActive-Tanjun Associate report
on ‘Institutional
Capacity Building
(Sports and Physical Activities), FICCI-Libero Sports India report
on ‘Foreign Investments in Indian Football’ and FICCI-Winning
Matters report on ‘Enabling National Sports Federation and Industry
Engagement’were unveiled by Mr. Badal.
The state of sports in the country can be best adjudged by
the astounding figures revealed in the FICCI-SkillsActive-Tanjun Associate
report. Among those who pursue sports education in the form of Bachelors and
Masters degree in Physical Education as high as 85 per cent of them are unable
to pursue a career in sports because of lack of required skills, facilities for
higher learning, global exposure and non-availability of options other than
teaching physical education at primary or secondary levels.
No less than 39,150 students obtain Bachelors degree and
3030 students a Masters degree in Physical Education from 783 registered
institutions in the organized sector in India. Close to 7,000 more colleges
at current rates will be needed if we need to meet the goal of 0.3 million
sports support personnel by 2017. Alternatively all passing students from
existing colleges will need to be shown sustainable careers in sporting fields
to hold them from drifting into other professions.
Justice Mukul Mudgal (Retd), Chief Justice, Haryana and
Punjab High Court, remarked, “India hosted the Commonwealth Games
and it proved that we have the capability to build sports infrastructure. We
must aim for best practices, Public-Private Partnerships, legacy planning and
ensure that the positives and negatives outcomes are all translated into
action. Also, more coordination is must amongst ministries, federation and
industry for all to benefit.”
Mr. Onkar Kedia, Joint Secretary, Sports, Ministry of Youth
Affairs and Sports, underlined the fact that at present India’s
expenditure on sports is a mere two per cent and the per capita expenditure is
2 paisa per day. “If we want to make our presence felt in the international
arena then this percentage must rise to five,” he added.
“We need to change the sporting culture in the country and
encourage students to take up sports as a career. The Government is also
helping elite sportspersons like P T Usha to set up training academies. It is
time that we join hands with the private sector and set up sports institutes,”
Mr. Kedia said.
Mr. R V Kanoria, President, FICCI, pointed out
that FICCI is India’s
only apex chamber of commerce with a dedicated sports division and full time
sports experts. “In our constant endeavor to support government in policy
reforms, FICCI represented to the government on granting industry status to
sports sector,” he said.
“One of the biggest difficulties in sports is
non-availability of data and documented knowledge related to sports. Also,
there is no budgetary support to provide research and development support in
sports. Bridging this knowledge gap is the first and foremost exercise that we
should undertake. It is important to collect data related to different sports,
athletes, there classification in to different training groups based on their
performance, their sport, coaches, and support system. This is in addition to
need of mapping sports infrastructure across India which indeed is a challenge
considering multiplicity of authorities e.g. states, SAI, Federations, states,
ministry of HRD, Defense, railways and so on,” explained Mr. Kanoria.
“Based on our constant interactions with experts from the
government, academia, athletes, media, and sports fraternity in India and
internationally. The focus areas for TURF 2012 are: Legacy planning of sports
infrastructure; institutional capacity building; Soccer development and
sustainable investment in sports: creating value for all,” said Mr. Aloke
Malik, Chairman, FICCI Sports Committee, and MD, ESPN Star Sports (India).
He added, “With the already identified need for more
meticulously planned development and maintenance of sports infrastructure in
the country, the significance of involving private sector is top of the agenda
in the TURF. The Government is providing policy support with initiatives like
‘Come and Play scheme’, contributing the land, and inviting private sector to adapt
SAI centers. Here we would be deliberating on how industry can partner with the
Government for proficiency in design, development, operation and maintenance of
sports infrastructure so that it is a win-win situation for all the sides –
Government, National Sports Federations and Industry.”
Mr. Sanjiv Paul, Co-chairman, FICCI Sports Committee &
Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel, said, “At present, due to
knowledge gaps, the very absence of institutional capacity building,
entrepreneurship, factor of production and finances in sports the multiplier
effects due to these inter-linkages has not reached its optimal potential in
India and bridging this knowledge gap will help us perform better on all these
indicators as they say, ‘when you know better you do better’.”
A FICCI Press release
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