Indian basketball, in an unholy mess !

''Power does not corrupt men, fools, however, if they get to a position of power, corrupt power. ---George Bernard Shaw.

Indian basketball is in a mess. The foreign experts have returned home because there was a fear, among other things, that the federation may not pay their salary or pay rent for their accommodation.

The same federation had been meeting their expenses to the tune of about a crore and a half of rupees in a financial year, earlier.

It is not a question of the federation suddenly running short of money. There has been enough of it thanks to the overwhelming support of IMG-Reliance, a real lifeline to Indian basketball.

The money has frozen, because of the dispute in the federation. With two factions claiming control of the federation, the bank account has also been frozen. IMG Reliance has refused to pay the quarterly instalment in April, till clarity was reached about the legality of BFI.

It has meant no salary for the staff of the federation, no petrol for the vehicles, and some of the payment made towards the conduct of the Federation Cup in Pune, not being cleared as the cheques reportedly bounced.

From a time when the Indian team showed signs of life when it beat the mighty China in the Asian Championship, Indian basketball has plunged into despair. All this, because of something as simple as choosing the venue for the Annual General Meeting.

Officials who do not even bother to be present in the National championship wanted to be present in strength in Pune for the Federation Cup, meant only for the top eight teams in the country. They wanted the AGM to be in Pune, and not in Bengaluru, after having agreed for it.

There was nothing wrong either in trying to have Pune as the venue, or bring a novice in sports administration like Poonam Mahajan, a Member of Parliament in Maharashtra, as the president of the BFI. But, the Constitution of the BFI needs to be respected, and procedures followed.

If the faction headed by the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the BFI, Roopam Sharma, was sure of its majority, which it was able to flaunt, perhaps because it was believed to have the money and political strength, what stopped it from winning the election in Bengaluru. Why is that they could command the majority in Pune, but were perhaps not so sure of it in Bengaluru. Maybe, it is because even a crocodile is powerless when it comes out of water.

It was a primitive scenario, where the man with the stick, claims the buffalo ! ''Jiski latti, uski bhains''.

With the vested interests, trying to usurp power, in a hurry and in an illegal fashion, the game has been shaken. Even though there is no proof of it in the open, except claims, the international basketball federation (FIBA) has refused to recognise both the factions, headed by K. Govindaraj and Poonam Mahajan. Worse, it has announced that no Indian team would be able to compete internationally till the issue was resolved.

In such a bleak scenario, the much maligned Indian judiciary has shown a guiding light by acknowledging that the faction headed by K. Govindaraj which was elected in Bengaluru on March 27, had the constitutional power to move ahead and discharge its duties.

Honestly, it was a simple situation. The outgoing president had the authority according to the constitution to call for the election and decide the venue and time. More importantly, the former CEO was offered the key post of the secretary general of the federation in the new team.

It is an old story that after having accepted Bengaluru and March 27 as the place and date for the AGM, and communication had been initiated accordingly by the then secretary general Ajay Sud, the CEO unilaterally started issuing circulars stating that Pune would be the venue and the AGM would be on March 28.

The attempt was to strengthen the federation with political influence, but the stark reality is that the stupid exercise has taken the life out of the game in the country. What a shame.

While the uncertainty of the international federation could be understood, as so many factors had to be taken into consideration before a national federation was recognised, the reluctance of the Union Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to see what is right and wrong, has been tragic. Both had the powers to douse the issue at the start itself, if they had wanted to respect the constitution, and proper procedures. But, both turned a blind eye towards the issue.

The joke doing the rounds is that both organisations that claim to carry the Olympic Movement forward, are blind in both the eyes, when it suits them.

At a time when IMG Reliance was pumping about 10 crore rupees into Indian basketball every year, it is tragic that the game in the country has hit the reverse gear because of selfish attitude and narrow minded approach.

As always, George Bernard Shaw was brilliant, but he perhaps overlooked the possibility of women claiming equal rights, in the modern era !