Why funding sports is an Olympian hurdle?

Source: Live Mint

Relevance: Issues related to Development of Sports in India

Synopsis: India’s spending on sports other than cricket is rising steadily, but still a lot needs to be done to bridge the gap.

Issues with sports dev in India

1]. Insufficient Financial support from Government

1. The Union budget outlay on sports is classified under two broad categories. The first is ‘encouragement and awards to sportspersons’, which includes support to sports federations, awards and incentives.
2. The second is the ‘Khelo India’ scheme, which aims to build a culture of sports in India from the grassroots, and upwards via infrastructure, competition, and opportunities.

However, the actual spend under both these initiatives has been lower than the budgeted amount in recent years.

As a result, India spends less on sports. For instance, Australia’s sports budget in 2020-21 was around ₹1,850 crore. India, with a population of about 50 times Australia, spent 14% less.

2]. Poor Private support

• Small contribution: The corporate sector’s support to build Indian sport is significantly small compared to the government. CSR has been the main route for private sector investments in sports in India. Classified as corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, private sector investments in Indian sports account for about ₹250-300 crore in a year.
• Lack of long-term commitment: What’s lacking in private support are funding instances where the vision is big and is matched by a funding commitment over several years. For example, in 2018-19, there were only 13 instances of a corporate making a sports grant of above ₹5 crore.
• Issues with PPP model: The PPP model for sports development also remains constrained due to the lack of a standardized model and a lack of incentives for states to integrate PPP into their sports policies, according to a 2016 report co-authored by consultancy KPMG and the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

3]. Governance Issues in Sporting Federations:

The sporting entities in India have a legacy of fiefdoms, opaqueness, corruption and a lack of compliance, which has even resulted in bans from the international agencies. In addition, these federations have struggled to raise finances

4]. Lack of Institutional design for sports development

As per the Indian Constitution, sports come under the ambit of states, and there is no law governing sporting activities for the entire country.

• To address this issue, the Union ministry of youth affairs and sports notified the National Sports Development Code in 2011, which specified the principles for good governance of all national sports federations (NSFs).
• However, there is a lack of clarity over whether these principles are binding on various sporting bodies and institutions.

Learnings from the UK

• India can draw lessons from models that other countries like U.K have adopted. Following a dismal show in the 1996 Olympics, where it finished 36, Britain has over the years transformed its sports landscape.
• Sports management was professionalized, and UK Sport, a government agency, was set up as a singular entity to enhance its Olympic medal count. In 2019-20, it spent about ₹1,500 crore).

Reforms needed

According to the KPMG report, the following interventions will be crucial.

1. Private sector organizations and non-profits will have to be incentivized to participate in sports development through a combination of monetary and tax incentives.
2. Since sports is a high-risk career, it is imperative that adequate financial security is provided to athletes to enable a more lucrative career.
3. Further, sporting federations should be governed by former sports persons with a proven ability to lead sporting bodies, rather than politicians or bureaucrats.
4. Lastly, the PPP route should be utilized to develop world-class sporting infrastructure. In the US, sports are well integrated with the education system, with college sports competitions being popular as well as rigorous.

Conclusion

The shining performance of India’s sportspersons in Tokyo, shows that there is no dearth of talent in India. However, to identify, groom and nurture promising prospects for world-beating athletes will require concerted effort, investment and cooperation among all key stakeholders of the sports industry in India.