IOA boss PT Usha and NRAI President Kalikesh Singh Deo emerge as able administrators in 2025
It’s easy to talk of creating the right ecosystem for the growth of sports in India. How many are aware, there are wheels within wheels when it comes to running sports. Take the basic, grassroot level and then move upwards, it is a chain. At each level, one needs administrators, men and women who have a vision. One thing is to create infrastructure and the second to ensure there are coaches who can impart skills.
Yes, at the basic level, there are coaches, even in villages, small towns, cities and then the Metros. The more one has seen the sports landscape change in India change in recent years, it is clear boys and girls blossoming in the international arena are not from big cities. And then comes the National Sports Federation and the National Olympic Committee, which are very important.
The lament at home has been about selfish officials in Indian sports, how they are only bothered about own continuity in office with scant respect for development, producing champions. Year after year, there is chest-thumping, power-hungry officials don’t want to leave office and ruin sports. Take the classic case of the All India Tennis Association and a few more federations. Elections were held last year, results withheld and the matter is dragging on in a court of law. Hearings take place, repeatedly, with no end on sight. Take a sport like equestrian, there is greater chaos, with even officers from the Army no less arrogant or power-drunk.
It is pointless to talk of only the lousy National Sports Federations. If there is a contest for who is worse, it can be a toss-up between the All India Football Federation, which has killed the sport in India. Imagine, no leagues, poor administration and running like school kids to the headmaster (Sports Ministry), this defines the AIFF, headed by Kalyan Chaubey. Who suffers, the footballers, unable to play and earn. This is the saddest story of 2025 in Indian sports.
Not far away is the Indian Weightlifting Federation where a husband and wife are both office bearers. How it happened is no mystery, nor is this a first. Yet, even as the new sports code awaits to kicks in, some people have used the system and connections to bend it to their benefit.
Imagine, the IWF keeps flaunting one athlete, Mirabai Chanu. Ask Mr Sahdey Yadav, who has been running the weightlifting federation for decades, how many athletes’ names he can take who will be medal prospects in his sport at the Asian Games in 2026 in Nagoya, Japan. Even if you ask him about the LA 2028 Olympics, the same name will be propped up -- Mirabai Chanu. It’s a joke there is only one weightlifter in India. How and why this is allowed to happen is a national embarrassment.
Come to Indian hockey, there are serious problems. More of it has to do with coaches being accused of ‘harassment’ and subjecting girls to trauma. It was not a mere coincidence that the junior girls team came into news for the wrong reasons and the women’s national coach Harendra Singh quit abruptly. It is well-known, someone like Harendra being paid Rs 15 lakhs a month was outrageous. To have ensured a revolt in the Indian team and then got away by resigning, Harendra has ensured he is safe.
The fact is, even his former employers, Air India, know he is not a coach who can be trusted. No coach can encourage an athlete to come forward and learn out of fear. Hockey India, please understand, you are under watch. Be it President Dilip Tirkey or Secretary Bholanath Singh, there have been serious issues. All this happened in 2025, so in terms of good governance, you have failed miserably.
Yes, not all is bad. If there is one sport which has shown the way and shone, it is shooting. There may have been a bad period after the London 2012 Olympics, after which there was turmoil. The Union Government spends crores of rupees on shooting and the failure to win medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics and Tokyo Olympics in 2021 was worrying. Blame for it can be shouldered by President Raninder Singh, who had outlived his utility.
Fortunately for the sport of shooting in India, Kalikesh Singh Deo becoming interim President and now getting elected as President for the period 2025/2029 is good news. The National Rifle Association of India does get the vote as the best-run federation in India. See the results being produced by junior champions as well as results achieved by a Samrat Rana on debut at the World Championship. Also see how someone at the age of 48, Zorawar Sandhu can still compete at the age of 48 in trap event and win a bronze medal at the World Championship. There is a system in place and the continuous monitoring and holding trials has worked in shooting.
Above mentioned are elite performances. And this does not happen like a magic wand being waved. There is a shooting structure in place where the role played by private shooting academies is also not discouraged. If you look at Kolkata, seasoned Jaideep Karmarkar is slogging hard to produce champions. If you take Pune, former Khel Ratna Anjali Bhagwat runs an academy. This is the kind of base needed, not to forget what Gagan Naran is doing with his Gun For Glory centres. Above all this, if one man manages several issues and egos, it is Kalikesh Singh Deo, who is hands on and yet does not ruffle feathers.
Move over to the Indian Olympic Association, often referred to as a post-box in the past or an emailing centre on recent times. Why, because perception was, the IOA only forwards entries to international federations abroad or hosts of events. The IOA has gone through anxious moments for over two-and-a-half-years. At the helm, President PT Usha faced immense hostility from wtihin. There was talk she would be thrown out as well.
Perhaps, the ignorant folks were unaware, Usha derives her power not from political links alone but also how she has been an able administrator who has seen Indian sports closely. The National Games have been held, multiple editions, something which had died an unnatural death. Today the IOA executive committee is on the same page, at least on paper. Most important, the IOA now has a CEO in Raghuram Iyer, something which was opposed for almost two years by recalcitrant EC members of the IOA.
Decoding the IOA and also heading the Commonwealth Games Association of India, PT Usha has emerged as an able leader. When Australia refused to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games two years ago, it was a crisis. For those who say these Games are a waste, that’s wrong. No match, no Games, no contests, no leagues are a waste.
And yet, when India had to convince the Commonwealth Sports bosses in London recently that India is ready to host the 2030 edition in Amdavad (Ahmedabad), ahead of Nigeria, it was not easy. For those who accuse Usha of being a stooge, she has been doing her work quietly. She does not need to tell every journalist she meets how she deals with sporting officials from abroad, be it for the Asian Games or even in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Headquarters.
Where Usha has shown maturity in emerging as an able administrator is interacting with others in India who are also important, be it in the Sports Ministry or also with officials in the Gujarat State Government. With an important IOA meeting scheduled to be held in January in Ahmedabad, there will be more engagement.
Winning the bid to host the CWG 2030 is just one part. The roadmap ahead will be a professional one where India will deliver a good Games. Usha’s role does not end with just that. There is constant dialogue with the IOC, since India is keen to host the 2036 Summer Olympics. For those who are laughing India stands no hance, hang on. The world of sports is changing and, financially, India is emerging stronger.
One aspect of sports in India which worries Usha is doping. Yes, the onus is on the athlete as well as the National Sports Federations. Usha has never minced words when taking pot shots at a few federations. Recently, she spoke in the Rajya Sabha about how India should produce its own “anti-doping testing kits” which will align with the Government’s vision of self-reliance (Aatmanirbhar Bharat ).
Above all this, Usha has kept her door open for athletes as well as officials at the Olympic Bhawan in New Delhi. Indian sport does gain from her presence.
