Key Points
The protests by Indias top wrestlers that led to the suspension of Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Singh last month were unprecedented and held the refreshing promise of change and the whiff of something radical: player-led rebellion in Indian sport...
Generations of athletes, activists and journalists have railed in vain against the practice of federations being ruled by political strongmen (Singh is only the latest in a long tradition) who have scant knowledge about the sport they are supposed to nurture, and little to no regard for its athletes..
Federation presidents have routinely treated these bodies as personal fiefdoms, and athletes and coaches as their lowly subjects..
Former sportspeople pushed to be included and, as a result, PT Usha became the first Olympian and international medallist to serve as president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), in December 2022...
Its a sad case of an inspiring movement being derailed, and star athletes now doing what unfit administrators have done all along: sacrificing their sport at the altar of power politics..
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