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Hockey coach Terry Walsh has coined a new expression to describe the babus and the officials of the national sports federations - "sporting" bureaucracy! What Walsh meant is, bureaucrats involved in running Indian sport. Hockey India is thinking that the Australian is attacking the Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials while the babus in turn are clear that it is the other way around. But both will be delighted to know the synonyms of the word sporting - fair, generous and honourable!
Why this sudden flare-up?
Hockey India (HI) chief Narinder Batra, who is going through a running battle with SAI on even issues which does not concern him, is not the one to miss out striking while the iron is hot. Whether HI coaching staff and Batra are on the same page or not, it has opened a can of worms.
When Walsh says Indian hockey suffers because of the lack of functional autonomy for Director of High Performance Roelant Oltmans and him, he cannot be complaining about SAI or the babus of the Sports Ministry. The two experts derive what they call functional autonomy from HI. Unlike his countryman Ric Charlesworth, who bluntly told SAI that sport in India lacked professional approach and if Indian hockey has to see its heavenly days again it should be run by professionals, not a bureaucratic set-up, this Australian waited for an opportune moment to open up. Or, was he pushed to do so after India's Asian Games gold.
Batra's tomblike silence on the issue tells a tale of its own. He either thought Walsh will be playing at his bidding or he will clearly tell the government that the Director and coach are being asked to operate with both their hands tied behind their backs by the government.
One thing is clear, since Walsh has extracted some assurances and clearances from SAI Director General Jiji Thomson, it may well reduce Batra to a glorified postman clearing everything the two ask for in the next two years in the run-up to the Rio Olympics. By playing ball with Walsh and saying there is "no problem" in conceding most of his demands and assuring him a meeting with the Union Sports Minister to discuss policy issues involved in a couple of others, Thomson played his cards well. For his part Walsh said he has no issues with his remuneration and tax deduction at source.
What are Walsh's major demands?
He wants freedom in decision-making for Oltmans, more so in deciding on the budget for training and competition programmes of both the men and women's teams, purchasing cheaper air tickets for the teams by the shortest possible routes to travel for international events, and, most importantly, investing in Oltmans and him the authority to spend the budgetary allocation once SAI clears the proposal.
Walsh also wants an internationally known guru as an interface between HI and the government so as to get experts in various fields to interact with the players.
No one need have any objection to these prerequisites to take Indian hockey to the next level of winning an Olympic medal. Since it is tax-payer's money it must of course get through the audit scrutiny. Walsh added a couple of his own requirements to the list. He, at 60, wants to spend 120 days with his family on a paid working stay. Looking at India's itineraries in recent years they invariably went to Australia to play in some tournament or other. Playing in Australia is good for Indian hockey as well as Walsh.
Whatever Walsh is asking for should be considered an investment, even if it is seen as putting money in a bottomless pit, and not as bad debt. Walsh by inference is pointing a finger at HI and he knows Batra is the point man for money because the government cannot directly release it to a foreigner. The HI boss has to part with money for all the equipment and experts Walsh and Oltmans are asking for. The big question is will he do it.
HI gets Rs.15 crore and it has to cut cloth accordingly. Batra wants allocation to be more than doubled -- Rs 40 crore. The government's argument is how can hockey alone get that much amount when the entire budget allocations for sports is Rs.120 crore and when there are at least six disciplines in which India can expect medals at the Olympics.
The most cynical view is that Walsh, like all good coaches, is looking for an honourable exit when the mood is euphoric after the Incheon gold and that's why he is talking of missing his family and more paid working days to spend with his people back home. It could also be that Walsh is pushing the envelope by asking things that should normally have been provided for an international hockey squad out of genuine concern for Indian hockey. If he gets all he wants, he should take the team to Rio.
Anyone who knows Batra and his frosty relationship with SAI officials cannot believe that Walsh would be sticking his neck out without the support of the strong man of Indian hockey unless the Australian had enough of his strong arm methods.
Come to think of it, is Walsh's vague or calculated expression of "sporting bureaucracy" is targeted at Batra or the mandarins of Shastri Bhawan and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium? We will know once Batra opens his mouth or sends his now routine mails.
