Amid the probe of allegations against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by top grapplers’, ace Indian shooting coach Jaspal Rana has urged the government to implement sports code seriously, saying that ‘people are there for donkey’s years’ in the sports federations.

In a freewheeling chat with IANS, the 46-year-old and Dronacharya awardee Rana, who is not only famous for his shooting skills but also has been someone who is not known for mincing words, said that the government should shut the federations which don’t follow sports code.

Notably, the National Sports Code was introduced to bring transparency and accountability to the functioning of national sports federations (NSFs).

Excerpts of the interview:

Wrestlers have recently levelled some serious allegations against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Earlier, such issues were noticed in other federations as well. What do you think needs to be done in this regard so that sports doesn’t get affected and especially women athletes can focus on the game as sexual harassment is a major cause for concern ?
Rana: I am the victim myself… (didn’t provide detail on it further), see, it is not about men or women. It could be anyone. Whoever is wrong, why only the federation, it could be bureaucrats, it could be a politician, it could be anybody who is involved in that sport should be handled in a much better way. We are talking about such a large population and we are coming up as a sports country now. So, if we can handle this thing right now, it will be much better in future.

Also, follow the sports code, see there is a guideline which has been given by the government to follow the sports code just follow it. There are certain rules which have been laid by the government. First of all, they should follow that, get the federation on the right track, and let there be a fair election.

People are there for donkey’s years
if somebody sits in one place for a long time… if you put water in one place, which is the purest water, it will get stale after some time. But the water will be fine if it keeps flowing. If somebody new will come then we will have new ideas, we will be passionate to work, so that should be the process.

Do you think a sportsperson would be the right choice to lead the federation in India ?
Rana: No no, I don’t really think that only a sportsperson can do a good job, anybody can do a good job. But the person should be for the sports. How are all the IPS, IAS officers, they have been in all the departments because they have given a task to improve that department, and so is the politician.

All the politicians get selected by the people and after that they choose who is good for the particular ministry. There might be somebody who has nothing to do with sports and becomes a sports minister. But the sports minister is for sports and there is a responsibility given to the sports minister to improve the facilities and the environment of sports in the country, that’s good enough. So don’t say that only a sportsperson can do wonders. I have seen the sportsperson destroying the sports federation.

There are people who just use the situation between the government and federation and take advantage of the entire situation. And they are everywhere. First make the given guideline strict. Shut down the federation. Everything will be fine when it will remain closed for one or two years.

There will be insults when you are not going to compete. Sports policy is here but they don’t follow it.