The need for a perfect mix of private entrepreneurship and governmental intervention is essential for sports to flourish in the country. Speakers at the seminar on Sports Development held as part of the 35th National convention of the Sports Journalists Federation of India on Friday also felt that the media too had a proactive role to play in this regard.
Initiating the discussions, Chirag Tanna, Head of Operations, Pune Football Club, said the role of government should not be restricted to the development of infrastructure alone. It could also help clubs by way of extending tax subsidies. Likewise, the National federations and State associations also needed to re-work their priorities.
He said PFC was currently engaged in re-establishing the football culture in the city, as was being done by other clubs in their respective cities. The I-league had a definite future, as the masses remained quite passionate about football. The clubs too had a major role in taking the game back to the people, engaging itself in sensible marketing.
Hemant Bendre, member of the International Tennis Federation's Coaches Commission, remarked that the government could also help in the growth of various disciplines by getting itself involved in the training of coaches in a far bigger scale than at present.
Sundar Iyer, treasurer of the Maharashtra Lawn Tennis Association, gave a graphic account of the various measures being taken by the MSLTA to take the game to the masses.
The game which was limited to the big cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Kolhapur, has found tremendous response from among the people of all the other 22 districts in the State.
Aniruddha Deshpande, chairman of the newly-introduced Maharashtra Badminton League, felt that the time was ripe for the establishment of an Indian Badminton League on the lines of the Indian Premier League.
Already efforts were on in this direction and if everything worked out well, the proposed IBL could be put on boards by December 2011.
Initially, it would be restricted to only players within the country. If the Badminton Association of India does give the green signal, the introduction of foreign players could be thought out in the coming years, and that too after assessing the impact of the league during its first year.
