Cong MP had raised Bindra's frustration early this month

NEW DELHI: A Congress MP from Punjab had alerted the national sports administration that Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was being

maltreated by the National Rifle Association of India and the issue, if not handled well, could blow up on the country's face

At a meeting of the sports officials early this month, which included Union sports secretary, DG, SAI, and director, NIS Patiala, Manish Tiwari is learnt to have said that Bindra was angry at the attitude of NRAI and the issue needed to be resolved lest it become an embarrassment.

The Ludhiana MP, who is an AICC spokesman, flagged the issue at the meeting as it became clear to some of the ruling party members that all was not well with the country's best medal prospect. While the sports ministry cannot do much with autonomous sports bodies, there may be a case for some informal influence in cases like an Olympic gold medalist.

The shooter felt disturbed as he was being called back by NRAI every few months from training abroad and had reportedly confided to friends that he could quit.

The Bindra episode is seen to highlight the poor sports management in the country and the limited ways to deal with it. There is not much the sports ministry can do with sports associations except intervene in smaller associations with which it enjoys some leverage. It, however, is completely helpless when it comes to issuing directions to bigger ones.

However, the Bindra episode may nudge the Centre to look at ways it could exercise some oversight where national prestige is at stake. The issue is being seen as serious especially with Commonwealth Games in the country and then the Olypmics on which some of the medal prospects are focused.

The recent fiasco in hockey where players went on a strike to drive home the neglect faced by them from Hockey India has only underlined the urgency to set the house in order.

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