Nandan Kamath wears many hats, including that of sports lawyer and trustee of GoSports Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting young Olympic and Paralympic talent. The 35-year-old Bangalorean, a graduate of NLSIU Bangalore, Oxford University and Harvard Law School, advised Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi when the duo took the All India Tennis Association to court for banning them from representing the country for two years. Kamath explained the stand of the players who were penalized for not agreeing to partner Leander Paes in the 2012 London Olympics and on player rights in the country.
What impact will the Bhupathi-Bopanna case have on treatment of sportspersons in India?
I wouldn’t blame an outsider for seeing the players’ behaviour through the Olympic selection controversy as petty and self-centred. However, if you get beyond the superficial perceptions, it is apparent this was a failure of sports administration and player management — nothing more, nothing less. The players were left with the binary choice of either accepting this or standing up for what they believed in, and they chose the latter. While it is inappropriate to get into specific details of the case as the matter is sub judice, suffice it to say that if the players feel forced to take their federation to court, it is indicative of the breakdown in the administrative machinery.
It’s a first step in dealing with arbitrary conduct by sports administrators unaccustomed to having their decisions questioned, least of all by players they “govern”. It is an important precedent and I am sure all sports federations are keeping track of the proceedings which could have a direct bearing on their functioning.
Sportspersons have rebelled against associations in the past. What makes the Bhupathi-Bopanna case different?
Tennis players are fortunate in that their careers are not under the exclusive monopoly of the national tennis federation. They play on professional circuits and don’t require selection by their federation. As a result, exposure to the whims and fancies of sports administrators is limited to the Davis Cup or Fed Cup and multi-discipline events like the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. Consequently, Rohan and Mahesh were better equipped to stand their ground in this situation.
What kind of a precedent does this case set for aspiring athletes and for sports federations?
We are seeing a self-confident young Indian athlete today. Young people in India take little at face value now and are ready to stand up for their own rights. The generation gap between athletes and governing bodies is likely to come to the surface more frequently. There is a strong movement to regulate sports bodies closely. There is an equally good argument to deregulate and democratise the sports industry, as has happened with the IT industry. If we can release sport from the federation raj and open it up, either partially or fully to competition and professional management, you never know what can be achieved.
Are player unions the need of the hour?
Player unions are not solutions in themselves. The entire sports ecosystem needs to grow and more stakeholders must be engaged. Sports agents are now playing more important roles across disciplines . The press has played a key role in holding federations and selectors accountable. Former sportspersons are making their views widely known. Even courts are increasingly willing to intervene. As the famous saying goes, ‘Sunlight is the best disinfectant’. If we are able to bring more information into the public domain about the talent that abounds in our country, give it sustained opportunities and platforms to show its worth and reward it meaningfully, then it will be very difficult for anyone to suppress it.
What kind of an influence do associations have on careers of athletes?
Most times, influence of the associations is absolute; be it funding, training opportunities or selections, athletes are fully dependent on their federations. Only in a few other professions are the full-time careers of some so completely in the hands of others. There is a great fear of administrators among athletes. We need to move more fully towards a model where administrators are recognized as mere facilitators of sports talent in their quest to connect with opportunities to perform and, ultimately, with sports fans. It is not clear whether increasing professionalisation of sports management will automatically bring about the death of ‘command and control’, though that should certainly be one of the prime objectives. While we need good, qualified professionals running Indian sport, there is no point transplanting them into allpowerful positions lacking structured checks and balances.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Sports> More Sports / by Prajwal Hegde, TNN / September 30th, 2012
