Speak out, be damned: Viren

From a top-notch Indian hockey player to producing Olympic champions from India, former midfielder Viren Rasquinha tells Harpreet Kaur Lamba how he was a victim of favouritism and callous authorities, when he found himself out of the national team in 2006.

The 30-year old took recourse to academics, earning his MBA from the country’s top management school. “It only takes six grams of gold to lift the worth of a nation,” says Rasquinha, who is the Chief operating officer of Olympic Gold Quest, an organisation that supports athletes from the grassroots.

As India stands on the threshold of the 19th Commonwealth Games, Ras-quinha says only “professionalism mixed with common sense” can save the country from major embarrassment at the Delhi event. Excerpts:
The CWG is here, but all one sees is negativity and inefficiency, when the focus be on the players. Why?
It all boils down to poor planning and weak administration. And unless we become professionals in this, we are going to constantly face this problem. The Games were handed to us in 2003, but work only began last year. This happens when you don’t have people with vision and commitment.

The Games have been marred by charges of corruption levelled against the top administrators. Your take?
It is not for me to comment unless things are proven. Fact is that the nation has lost faith in the administrators. The foreign media, everyone is criticising India. I am in favour of paid professionals handling jobs. The system of honorary posts, especially in sport, only lead to honorary results. This has to end.

Why is it that a country, despite spending an astronomical “71,000 crore, is unable to deliver?
Infrastructure is part of the many problems that Indian sport is facing. The bottomline is that if the money doesn’t trickle down to the athletes, all the spending is of no use. We cannot expect our shooters to win a world championship, when we provide them with sub-standard ammunition. Olympic medals don’t grow on trees.

What can be done in the next seven days to save the country from further embarrassment?
First, everyone has to be galvanised on a war-footing to look after each and every aspect of the Games. I would love to see the President and the Prime Minister come out and make a strong statement on TV, and enthuse the nation. Hard times come for every nation, and this is that time for us because our reputation is on the line.

Secondly, athletes need to stay motivated and focused. They are the ones who can salvage these Games for us.

Lastly, if it is proven that people are corrupt and have done any wrong, throw them out, let efficient people take over.