Crony Capitalism And Failed Sports Morality: A Case Of BCCI
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava
25 November, 2014
Countercurrents.org
The recent speaking of Supreme Court has exposed the real status of cricket management in the country.
The game of cricket has been captured and manipulated by the elites. The competition for the top post is due to the prestige and affluence associated with the game. In fact there is clear exposition of crony capitalism which has a special meaning in this management where one group always attempts to benefit the member of his group whether the person holds the capabilities or not. In previous time many got the top positions just because of this factor.
There is dissolution of political affiliations. The stakeholders have no loyalties except how to gain the position and how to retain it. The politics in BCCI seems to have become a classic training place for the emerging Indian politicians who can now very easily learn how to play the game of politics.
The top BCCI leadership except few is behind Srinivasan who is determined to reach on the top position again. The moot point is that the whole institution of BCCI has failed to honour the greatest sports ethics, knowing well that the court is not keen to allow him to play a role in the management but they are still behind him. The sports ethics have no value in the sports culture of the country.
It is natural because the sports ethics is sub part of the political culture of the country. The political culture shapes the other culture. When country is passing through a phase of detoriation of ethical values in the public life, how can then it be possible for any subculture to play a different role? The case of BCCI therefore is just a symptom. It suggests that disease is too deep and needs a great scalping.
Supreme Court has talked about the conflict of interest with particular reference to Srinivasan. The truth is that this conflict of interest was in full operation but none paid heed because everyone was getting benefits. Those who were near to powerful got the mundane gifts , those away received only the flaks. Case in point is of Mohinder Amaranth who once dubbed selectors as bunch of jokers never received any sincere benefits, Bishan Singh Bedi the was not heard in the Indian cricket because he was outspoken, he was not a flatterer.
The great Kapil Dev remained discarded for many years from the BCCI, was systematically removed from the BCCI because he was man of worth and honest speaking. Winners are those who are close to the top leadership. There have become many cricket administrator who have come on top positions due to networking. BCCI has taught the world that networking is more important than the excellence.
It is a great surprise that no one is in position to rein the BCCI.It has clout in the political world. Thus both are interlinked. The RTI is not applicable on BCCI. Many including ASSOCHAM suggested the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to bring the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Why BCCI uses the country name when it is not responsible for its monetary acts to the public? Government should remove all technical points and bring it under RTI. The National Draft on Sports Development Bill 2013 may play an important role in it.
What a great surprise that a small NGO with one Lakh Rs. has to tell everyone about its financial standing if it has got funds from the government but an organization affecting the huge population is beyond it. Supreme Court has brought NGOs under RTI on this ground by a decision in 2013. SC should now decide in the same way if government does not take any action. It can make the basis that BCCI earns its income from the people so people are powered to ask about the financial management of the BCCI. India becomes a special country where two laws prevail for the same thing. This is fallacy of the Indian democracy.
The whole country is enamoured of cricket, mainly the young ones. The business of cricket is heavily dependent upon the young fellows of the country who love the game the most. When there are allegations of fixing and it has been proved beyond doubt that fixing has taken place in the Indian cricket even many players were banned for these charges. These included the top players of the Indian cricketing world. Hence a strong action is mandatory.
Now when the specter of fixing has again raised its head in IPL and Mudgal committee has pinpointed many on it. Why then BCCI is not taking the right line of action? Why the BCCI is keen to kill the real spirit of the game? Does Indian young fellows in particular and public as a whole have no rights to see that the game is played in the best spirit without the taint and impact of the fixing? Indian cricket needs complete overhaul and first those administrators need to be dismissed who only flatter and destroy the emotions of the young ones.
In this respect Sachin Tendulkar autobiography 'Playing It My Way' too needs some honest treatment. It has sold widely, mainstream media has talked about the book in length but Sachin has done great disservice of the society by not letting people know about the match fixing episodes which were taking place in his time in year 2000, he could have given the society a new look but he took the narrow interest of self service, he must have learnt from Gandhi. The result is that his book will not endure the time and his name will fade, he should have learnt from Gandhi that truth needs to be spoken. Gandhi’s My experiments with truth is therefore a book for infinite ages. Tendulkar’s act is symbol of lost sports morality.
Indian government must take immediate action to control the BCCI otherwise the game is doomed and with that the great Indian traditions of morality and ethics.
Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava has twenty years University level teaching experience, presently Assistant Professor in CSJM Kanpur University[affiliated college],Vice Chairman CSSP, recent article “Nehru’s views on secularism”, Mainstream Weekly,15th November, mainstreamweekly.net, email: [email protected]
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