Sahara India Parivar to pull plug on federations
India’s dismal performance in some of the disciplines at the Olympics has prompted Sahara India Parivar, a major sponsor in Indian sports, to have a fresh look at their contracts with the concerned sports federations.
Sahara has been associated with various national sports federations, including those of hockey, archery, shooting, boxing and tennis.
While some of the athletes performed exceptionally well at the Olympics, there were a few disciplines, especially hockey and archery, in which the athletes failed to live up to expectations.
Sahara signed a Rs.50 crore sponsorship deal with Hockey India for five years earlier this year while its contract with Archery Association of India (AAI) expires in 2013.
A top source in the Sahara India Parivar said that the group has plans to form its own foundation, institute or trust where the athletes will be provided best training facilities and coaches, and their progress will be monitored by experts.
However, it was made clear that the present contracts with the various federations will be seen through.
“Present contracts continue with the status quo. But in future we will plan to route and manage the sponsorship monies in an institutional manner,” the source told Mail Today.
“We may form a trust, foundation or institute under the aegis of Sahara. We will fund players directly and scrutinise their progress through experts.”
The below par performance of the men’s hockey team, which finished at the bottom of the 12-team competition, and the archers at the Olympics were the two most prominent reasons for Sahara to re-strategise the distribution of the sponsorship money in various disciplines.
“We were forced to come up with such a plan after the dismal show in hockey at the Olympics. The disciplines we have shortlisted are hockey, archery, boxing and wrestling.”
The men’s hockey team failed to win a single match in the league stage and then lost to South Africa in the 11th-place classification tie.
The archers, too, came a cropper, with world No.1 Deepika Kumari knocked out in the first stage in the individual competition.
The men’s and women’s teams did not do any better and were hardly a challenge for their rivals at any stage.
Sahara has been associated with hockey since 2003 and has been sponsoring various disciplines at some level or the other.
Sahara’s latest plan to ensure that their money is utilised in the most efficient manner has left some of the federations worried.
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Archery Association of India (AAI) president Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who is also the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) acting chief, was concerned about the recent development.
“This was for the first time that corporate houses came out to invest in sports other than cricket. There were major disappointments in some of the events and that definitely needs to be looked at,” said Malhotra.
“Sahara has been supporting sports for years and if this is the situation, it is a matter of concern and we will surely sit with them to see how things can be worked out,” he added.
Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra was also quick to take moral responsibility for India’s worst finish at the Olympics. He assured that the federation will do its bit to address Sahara’s grievances.
“We are also not happy and as head of the family, I take the responsibility for the debacle. We will meet players, officials and coaches to get to the root cause of this failure.
“If the sponsors are not happy we are ready to meet them and address their grievances,” said Batra.
If and when Sahara comes up with a full-fledged plan to institute a foundation or a trust, it will be not for the first time that a corporate house will pump in money which is directly used by the athletes.
Mittal Champions Trust (MCT) and Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) are two prime examples. In fact, four of the six athletes, who won medals at the London Games, were backed by OGQ.
Vijay Kumar, Gagan Narang, Saina Nehwal and MC Mary Kom were all supported by OGQ while wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who won a bronze on the penultimate day of the Olympics, was backed by MCT.