Even as the government, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India and the sports federations are red-faced over the doping scandal that has hit Indian sport (athletics in particular) of late, Indian coaches and sports experts from various disciplines are crying hoarse about the need to become more scientific.
The world of sport has moved ahead with the help of science and technology. And here we are in India, hardly knowing what sports medicine and sports science are all about.
Not long ago, the indifferent attitude of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) forced a number of its senior scientific officers and sports medicine doctors to resign, and by all assessments the situation is getting worse by the day.
“The situation has gone from bad to worse in the last few years. In 2006, nine of the 25 sports medicine doctors and scientists resigned within a year. We all thought it would be an eye-opener for SAI, but it hardly made any difference. After a lot of hue and cry in Parliament, ad hoc arrangements were made, but nothing concrete has been done to solve the problem. Instead, in these three years a number of doctors and scientists have retired and no step has been taken to fill the vacant posts,” said one sports medicine doctor on condition of anonymity.
“We do not have the concept of sports medicine and sports science in our country. Here the authorities think sports medicine and sports science are only meant to treat injuries. But that can be done by any practising doctor. It is all about studying athletes’ behaviour, their progress and their requirements, and finding the solutions needed to improve their performance. It is not a day’s job. To improve, every team needs support staff, including a doctor, physiotherapist, masseur, psychologist, computer analyst, statistician and so on. But here we hardly have any,” said a senior scientist, citing this as one of the main reasons for India’s dismal showing.
Favourites in the support staff
Describing further the apathy in Indian sport, he said that, as if this were not enough, at major events the federations send support staff who are their favourites and from their own circle, because of vested interests. “It is all about feathering their nests and obliging the near and dear ones who brought them to power. And the government clears their names without much thought. Hardly any of the support staff accompanying teams have any knowledge of sports medicine. So how can you expect them to help our sportspersons during these events?” he asked.
Most of the Indian contingent is made up of officials, not players! In the selection of doctors, too, merit is not the deciding factor. “Doctors from SAI who stay attached to the teams for long periods during the domestic national camps usually find themselves replaced, courtesy of the federation, by others who do not even know the athlete or the game. As long as nepotism and favouritism remain, it will be very difficult for us to grow out of this and excel,” argued a sports scientist, revealing that a number of physiotherapists and masseurs currently appointed by the federations and SAI are inadequately qualified.
“Every federation has appointed its own set of staff, and as usual it is not qualifications but proximity to federation officials that has landed them the job. SAI has also appointed physiotherapists and masseurs for every federation, and that in a way leads to a clash of interests. I have come across a number of masseurs and physiotherapists who are not qualified. I was surprised to learn that one of them was a groundsman’s son and another had worked as a helper for a coach. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and they are paid anything between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. Even the psychologists appointed by the federations and SAI on an ad hoc basis are fresh graduates (mostly MAs). In sport you need experienced psychologists with knowledge of sport, or the very idea of having one will backfire,” he said.
One of the experts challenged the system, saying that the people who get these plum assignments hardly visit the national championships and camps. “How can you think of improving the condition of athletes when they hardly study them? It cannot be done in a day. Sportspersons need adequate, long-term monitoring in which each of their habits, mental and physical, is studied. Our country is already in a dire crisis in terms of sports medicine practitioners and scientists. And whatever resources we have are not being used because of vested interests. So why blame only the athletes for poor results when the problem lies somewhere else?” he said, adding that a sportsperson can reach only a certain level, after which it is all about scientific training and analysis of his mental and physical state.
“We can never progress with this knowledge, or the lack of it. The situation will remain the same. Developing infrastructure can help an athlete progress but cannot take him to the optimum level where he can compete with the very best in the world. The government will have to think about this. At present, not a single state government runs a sports medicine and sports science department. Even if it is not elaborate, it will have to be made mandatory for every state government. It is the need of the hour that sportspersons are monitored from the very initial stage. China is an example – see its progress,” he said firmly.
“The Australian Institute of Sports Medicine (Canberra) has approximately 80 to 90 staff at scientist level, while the Chinese Institute of Sports Medicine (Beijing) has 170 and the Japan Institute of Sports Medicine (Tokyo) has approximately 150 staff at one centre, compared with 15 spread across all the centres in India. Here we do not even have a psychologist at some centres. So the state of sport in our country should not come as a big surprise,” said an expert.
