Lessons to be Learnt?

Deepak Maharjan was mere 7-year old when Chitra Bahadur Gurung won Nepal a bronze in the 1990 Asian Games, incidentally in Chinese city of Beijing. So it's highly unlikely that he might have been inspired by that event. And after that, we could never see the podium finish at the Asian level, as far as the pugilists are concerned.

Incidentally, it had to be China again, where the medal drought finally ended for the sport. And incidentally, it had to be another humble player who finished at the podium. In sports, it is said, you don't win silver, forget bronze. You only win gold.

But then, we are celebrating a third place finish. And why not, if it was not for Deepak Maharjan, our bag would remain empty. The media could have blamed it on the officials; after all they were the ones who had almost put the entire contingent's trip in jeopardy. After all, they were the ones who went to Guangzhou with the players, and were spotted in cities like Hong Kong and Macau, during the Games itself, while the players would hardly find a couple of hands clapping for them.

So what if it was only a bronze that he won. So what if he could only score one point against the 6-footer Indian boxer. Deepak Maharjan did not create magic, or set the ring on fire, and perhaps it was not even expected of him. For he was not the one who would give juicy soundbites to camera or make promises even before setting his foot in the ring. Before heading to China, he did not tell you he was going to break any record or a neck. What he did tell us was that he's going to try his best. What we conveniently forgot was he had won a gold in South Asian Games, last time around.

And now, he is a celebrated name. He even has a page on the Wikipedia now. And perhaps, he is not even aware of it. For he is a simpleton, a man who's likely to remain unnoticed unless you want to interview him. And there are chances you might regret interviewing him, because his lines are terse and hardly likely to incite anyone. But if you listen to him carefully, you might be feel differently.

When everyone who knows a bit of sports in the country, including media, was busy criticizing the sport officials for spoiling the environment even before the Asian Games, he would not even speak about it.

Upon his return he said, "Our job is to prepare well, and not concentrate on anything that happens outside." But it must be tough, not reacting to what is happening around you. He tells you, "That hampers preparation."

Terse, but to the point... Ask him how he feels after grabbing bronze at the Asian Games, and he would grope for words, often mumbling and trying to thank the entire family, friends, fans and god knows who not. But you would rate him for what he does in the ring, and not the speech he would deliver after receiving the medal. Doing both well would be great, we'd have a showman. But here, we are in dire need of flag bearers rather than stars.

Post Asiad, I could not help but notice 3 things.

Deepak came back for a hero's welcome, with his villagers thronging the airport just before midnight.

So did the other officials, one of whom was manhandled, by those who call themselves players.

A senior official from Sports Council - who shall here remain nameless and for his lack of understanding should remain jobless - told me, "Forget my talks on TV. We cannot even pay proper salaries, forget big plans for future."

Makes you wonder: Are we learning our lessons?

(The article originally appeared in The Kathmandu Post, 4th December, 2010, in a weekly column of Yours Truly)

The Inconvenient Truth

It's official now. The honourable Sports Minister is going to lead our contingent at the Asian Games. He will be the chef de mission as we're being represented by our players at the biggest stage in Asia. That, effectively, has killed the speculation and a lot of claims and counter claims over who's to head our contingent as top athletes from all over Asia parade in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.

You would breathe a sigh of relief at such a piece news, or maybe throw your hands in despair, depending upon how you view the participation. But, if you were an athlete, you'd just nod, and say, "Well, what difference does it make?" Given the nonchalance of our sport officials towards the players in previous visits, the lines speak volumes.

There are two sides to the minister's participation – one, of ending the controversy, and the other, of raising more questions. Indeed, Minister as Chef de Mission has ended the present claims and counter-claims from both National Sports Council member secretary and Nepal Olympic Committee officials. Anything that puts an end to controversy in sport is a welcome move.

But another view, and the one which could have far reaching consequence is – should a minister head such a mission? Maybe yes, but maybe not… The chef de mission is a liaison role and it includes coordinating between the Games Organizing Committee as well as other multi-sport organizations. The chef de mission is expected to know the technical part of sport, the rules and the updates in the rules.

With due respect to all the politicians – which is the group ministers belong to – it can be safely said that they, mostly, are unaware of rules of sports. In such a condition how well can our minister perform the role, is a question that does not even need to be answered. All over the world, perhaps without exception, ministers are not given that responsibility. Even if they do join in as chef de mission, it is because they hold some other post in sporting bodies.

More importantly, the ministers, in sports festivals of this stature, are invited by the Games Organizing Committee or the IOC, depending upon the clout of the ministers in the larger body. They're invited as special guests and given VVIP treatment.

Has our minister done wrong not to deserve that treatment? Or alternatively, why doesn't he want to see himself there? The questions have no easy answers.

Meanwhile, the honorable Supreme Court has put an end to the question over which one is the legitimate of the two NOCs. The only flip side is that the one not recognized by the Supreme Court enjoys IOC recognition.

Honoring and acting on the Supreme Court verdict will take time and hopefully, IOC will also honor it. But one important part of the apex court verdict in the past week went unnoticed. It said, sports associations did not need registration under National Sports Council.

While it may have made not have made the NSC authorities very happy, it has perhaps, opened the doors for modernization of Nepali sports fraternity. The verdict said that the sport associations needed affiliation from NSC and not registration. This effectively ends NSC control over sporting bodies in the country.

Sport, in most countries, has flourished because the sport's governing body stopped 'controlling' them. Rather, the governing bodies are expected or should 'manage' the sports association. Gone are the days when some elites would, as an act of benevolence, set up an organization to 'let' sport flourish. These days, the governing bodies facilitate and coordinate with other bodies, rather than administer them.

There's no reason why the same system cannot be used in Nepal. Rather, the question would be: Why should we not adopt for a system that is modern and has more chances of success?

And thankfully, the Supreme Court has given us a start.
(The article appeared in a weekly column of yours truly, in The Kathmandu Post, Nov 6, 2010)