(19 February 2009 9:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Media needs to introspect on the role it plays in promoting Olympic sports, rather than focusing merely on cricket.

It should focus on athletes and give them exposure as they go through the grind, to help play a productive role iun helping India become a sporting power.

This point was made by Olympic Gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra on a session on 'Role of Media in Sports Promotion: Does it really support forms other than cricket?' at Frames 2009. Media, he said, has to educate itself on other sports. “Unfortunately the only times it focuses on sports is when something big happens - like an Olympic medal. The other time is when there is a controversy and the media looks at the negative aspeccts. The media would be giving the careers of sportspersons a boost by following them and giving them exposure. It could also help sportspersons shed doubt on whether it is worth it to participate in a sport other than cricket.”

Bhogle puts the blame of other sports not being followed much on sports being stuck in bureaucracy. “The reason why cricket has done well is that it is not associated with the government nor with the Indian Olympic Association. It is also television friendly and superbly packaged. In other sports though, for somebody to succeed he/she has to break through the system. Abhinav succeeded by breaking through.” He advocated that the government get out of sports especially those that are television friendly i.e. hockey, soccer. This should be given to a corporate like the Tatas and Mahindras. They can be given tax write offs based on infrastructure and medals and trophies won. This would then become a businesses for them and not philanthropy. They should take a sport that is TV friendly along with a sport that is not watched on TV like wrestling and shooting.

Tennis grand slam champion Mahesh Bhupathi noted that more corporates are getting involved in sport. Getting government funding can be tough as they have important issues to deal with. His company Globosport has tied up with the Mittals Champions Trust. Apollo Tyres has a Mission 2018 tie up where it has invested Rs one billion over 10 years to find a Grand Slam singles tennis champion. Bharti Airtel has made a commitment to football.

He however added that associations like the IOA or the AITA do not have the expertise to do innovative marketing. For instance, the AITA could have done something to cash in on the hype around Sania Mirza. IOA could make a package using six sportspersons from different disciplines and offer it to sponsors. This would be an investment plan. This requires foresight which the authorities do not have, he opined.

The federations are not questioned often enough by a disinterested, said Jaipdeep Sahni, screenwriter of feature film Chak De India. He added that the government approach towards sports is as disinterested. Instead of building parks and grounds to create infrastructure for kids to play there is obsession over the Commonwealth Games in 2010, he said.

He added that Chak De showed a sport that was supposed to be dead, boring. However, it did it with ambition and expertise. This is what attracted people who did not even know that India has a woman’s hockey team. There is a learning for media houses from this, he pointed out.