[First published in YouthKiAwaaz]
There is a lot of rage among India sports fans today.
Rage against the rules that disqualified Vinesh Phogat for being just 100 grams overweight.
Rage against the implementation of the rules which denied her at least the silver medal, which according to them she “earned fairly”.
Rage against Antim Panghal because she “stole” the slot that Vinesh Phogat should have had, forcing her to compete in a lower weight category.
On the other side, you have rage against Vinesh Phogat for being a “sore loser” and choosing to a file an appeal against her disqualification.
Rage against fans of Vinesh Phogat for supporting an anti-national who spoke against the government.
Rage against Vinesh Phogat for allegedly using her clout to deny other athletes of a chance to compete in the Olypics.
If exhibiting rage over sporting outcomes was an Olympic sport, Indian sports fans would have certainly got the gold medal!
But in all this rage, there is surprisingly little rage for the one issue that we should all be raging against. The System.
There is utter lack of transparency around selections
If you have been reading/ viewing/ hearing the news, by now, you would know that Vinesh Phogat (who normally weighs around 57 kgs) wanted to compete in the 53 kg category at the Paris Olympics. However, by the time she returned to wrestling after recovering from her ACL injury, she was informed that 19 year old Antim Panghal had already sealed the quota for herself by winning a bronze medal in the World Championships. Since trials were not going to be held for her preferred category, in order to compete in the Paris Olympics, Vinesh chose to take part in the trials in the lower weight category. She won, and was assured a place in her third Olympics.
The decision to not conduct the trials in the 53 kg category is, however, quite ad hoc. In the past where there were very few athletes who had the ability to perform well at the international level, using the performance in one international competition to secure a berth in another international competition might have worked. However, today, in sports like wrestling where the system is geared towards churning out international level competitors at a steady pace, the selection process has to be democratised. When there are multiple contestants vying for a limited number of slots, it is imperative that sports federations conduct free and fair trials to select the athletes who will get to represent the country. Unfortunately, selections are often ad hoc in India, and this is not the first time that the spotlight has been on the lack of transparency in the selection process.
In 2019, Mary Kom was unilaterally chosen to represent India at the Olympic trials in view of her past achievements. Nikhat Zareen, who was then a young and upcoming boxer, had challenged the decision and had demanded a fair trial. Despite Mary Kom opposing the need to conduct the trial, the Federation had to give way to the demand and conduct the trial (which, incidentally, Mary Kom won, though she refused to shake hands with her young opponent after the bout).
Lack of transparency leads to power structures
When there is little or no transparency in the process followed by sports federations in the selection of athletes to represent the country (or even to get considered for training camps), it not only supresses the emergence of new talent, but also grants undue power to the sports administrators. A system where merit is not the sole criteria for selection invariably leads to groupism and corruption, and creates an environment where it is easy to demand sexual (or other) favours in exchange for advancement. Sexual harassment has always been about power, not about sex. When absolute power is concentrated in the hands of individuals or coteries, it is easy for them to abuse the power, and it becomes almost impossible for female athletes to avoid sexual advances or to complain against it.
It is precisely this systemic sexual harassment of female wrestlers that the wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, were protesting against. They wanted to draw attention to a system where a man in a position of power was abusing his position to demand sexual favours from athletes who were in no position to resist the advances. During the protests, much was made of how Sakshi Mallik had invited the sexual predator to her wedding. However, in a system where one man has the ability to destroy your career, do you really have a choice? While the federation denied (and continues to deny) allegations of sexual harassment, it is indeed ironical that by denying Vinesh Phogat a transparent trial, they tacitly admitted that the system is one that enables both intimidation and sexual harassment.
Today, it is easy to blame Antim Panghal for denying Vinesh Phogat a chance to compete in her chosen weight category. What people fail to understand is that both Antim Panghal and Vinesh Phogat are victims of a system where power is concentrated in a few hands, and merit does not matters as much as the ability to avoid displeasing the people in power. When the wrestlers protested against systemic sexual harassment last year, they did not just demand justice for themselves, they wanted a better system for younger wrestlers like Antim. During the protests, in reply to a direct question, Vinesh actually told a reporter that she was willing to sacrifice her career if it was going to help lakhs of other young women compete safely.
As sports fans what can we do?
If we as sports fans want to see Indian athletes do well in international events, we should be vocal in supporting athletes who are demanding greater transparency and accountability from sports authorities. Systemic sexual harassment is always a sign that something is wrong with the system, and instead of raging against athletes for giving the nation a bad name, we should join them when they are protesting against an inequitable system. If some of our current rage could be channelled into amplifying the voices of athletes who are demanding an equitable system which offers every athlete an opportunity to train and compete according to their ability, that would be far more beneficial in the long run.
Indian sports fans come alive every four years and either elevate athletes to divine status or pull them down from pedestals they never asked to be placed on. After a few weeks of displaying their nationalism, the Olympics and Olympians are forgotten, and people move onto other things- till the next Olympics. If we really cared about the future of Indian Sports, we would be demanding transparency and accountability from the sporting federations. We will be demanding better training facilities, equitable access to the best coaching and a transparent system of selection. It is only when the system is overhauled that we will see a resurgence in Indian Sports. Is that too much to expect from the Indian Sports Fan?
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