1. C9C8 ioa in crisisinterview
Gulf News | Saturday, December 15, 2012 | gulfnews.comgulfnews.com | Saturday, December 15, 2012 | Gulf News
The infamous five of Indian sport
Dubai
S
HARAD PAWAR: Given the
string of allegations and
cases against him, Sharad
Pawar is possibly among the
most corrupt politicians in-
volved in sport. He has interests
in Kabaddi, kho kho, wrestling
and football and has served as
President of the International
Cricket Council. He is allegedly
involved in the Stamp Paper
scam, wheat imports scam, land
allotment scam, IPL exemption
of tax controversy to name a few.
SURESH KALMADI: Suresh
Kalmadi was the central figure
for siphoning off millions of
dollars as chief of the organ-
ising committee for the 2010
Commonwealth Games (CWG)
held in New Delhi. He was sus-
pended by the Congress Party
after he was arrested on cor-
ruption charges last year. But
recently, Kalmadi was nomi-
nated to important parliamen-
tary committees.
VIJAY KUMAR MALHOTRA:
After Suresh Kalmadi was ar-
rested for alleged irregularities
in awarding contracts for the
2010 CWG, Malhotra became
the acting president of the IOA
at the end of April last year.
Though he is currently also in-
volved in the administration of
the chess and archery associa-
tions, Malhotra is allegedly one
of the main people linked with
the 2010 CWG scandal.
LALIT BHANOT: Lalit Bha-
not has spent nearly one year in
jail last year in connection with
the Commonwealth Games
corruption case. But he has jus-
tified his unopposed election
to the post of Indian Olympic
Association’s (IOA) Secretary-
General earlier this month by
saying that he has not been
pronounced guilty by a court.
AJAY SINGH CHAUTALA:
Voted new President of the
IOA during last week’s elec-
tions in Delhi, Chautala is
currently battling charges
brought against him for al-
legedly possessing wealth ex-
ceeding his known sources of
income. A special judge last
year said he must face charges
under various provisions of
the Corruption Act after find-
ing “prima facie” evidence
against Chautala.
They are responsible for
the current state
of affairs of
sports in the country
By Alaric Gomes
Senior Reporter
Dubai
C
lean Sports India (CSI)
has made a call for
corruption-free sports
in India.
Speaking to me-
dia from London, CSI Conven-
or B.V.P. Rao said the Indian
Olympic Association (IOA) is
to be blamed for the mess the
country’s sport is in at the mo-
ment, merely because the as-
sociation did not act against
people who were allegedly in-
volved in corruption.
The IOA defied the Inter-
national Olympic Committee
(IOC) and went ahead with its
elections that the world gov-
erning body termed as invalid
and illegal, and hence would be
ignored.
And while IOC officials re-
mained adamant that India
needed to undertake funda-
mental reforms before being
allowed back into the Olympic
fold, officials in India appeared
unfazed, stating that the entire
controversy was the result of “a
misunderstanding that could
be cleared up with a chat”.
The IOC has pushed ahead
for change in the functioning
of the IOA and the way sports is
organised and held in India.
In fact, Acting President Vi-
jay Kumar Malhotra is keen
to bring all of India’s Olympic
leaders together later this week
to put together a simple expla-
nation to mollify the interna-
tional committee. “We will go
to Switzerland and speak to the
IOC and explain our point of
view and get them to withdraw
the ban,” Malhotra has been
quoted by Indian media.
Too tainted
And yet, the Indian officials
feel the need to talk. About
what, though? Is there anything
else that needs to see the light
of day when the IOC clearly
stipulated that “India’s Olym-
pic leaders are too old, too long-
serving and too tainted”? And
now, after last week’s elections,
it is this same band of men who
want to chat are now being led
by the tainted National Lok Dal
leader Ajay Singh Chautala.
International rules clearly
forbid Olympic leaders from
serving beyond the age of 70
or for longer than eight years.
But the so-called Indian sports
leaders have never been known
to adhere to this rule, starting
with Malhotra, who is 81 years
old.
And, while the IOC defended
the ban on the IOA, the Indian
officials stressed that “the polls
took place with a well laid-out
procedure”.
More importantly, the IOA
was warned on its restructuring
two years ago, but the officials
simply refused to adhere to the
IOC’s suggestions. So it is not
that the suspension has come
overnight.
The suspension by the IOC
has been widely seen as an
enormous embarrassment to
the world’s second most popu-
lous nation, most often termed
as a “sleeping giant” of sport.
And time alone will decide
whether this sleeping giant will
finally wake up to the reality of
international belonging.
It is these politicians who
have failed to deliver much
glory to Indian sports. The 2012
London Olympics were the
most successful ever for India
after the country won six med-
als. In its entire history, India
has won 26 medals. Contrast
this with American swim-
mer Michael Phelps who alone
has won 22 medals over three
Olympics Games.
Perhaps paying heed to a
non-governmental organisa-
tion like the CSI would make
sense at this stage. “It is a his-
toric opportunity for the coun-
try to discuss, debate and re-
form the sporting structures of
India. It’s time for sportsper-
sons to come and put the house
in order,” CSI Convenor Rao
has suggested.
That would be the right move
for Indian sports.
It’s time for a clean-up
india body needs to get its act together and return to the international fold
By Alaric Gomes
Senior Reporter India’s ban
With the suspen-
sion of the Indian
Olympic Association
(IOA) by the Inter-
national Olympic
Committee (IOC)
due to government
interference last
week, India stands
to lose out on sev-
eral counts.
■■ India cannot partici-
pate in any interna-
tional events such as
the Olympic Games
■■ India will stop re-
ceiving IOC funding
■■ Indian officials will
be banned from
attending Olympic
meetings and events
■■ Indian athletes will
be barred from com-
peting in Olympic
events under their
national flag
■■ However, Indian
athletes can partici-
pate under the IOC
banner
— A.G.
Implications
India not alone in
falling foul of IOC
Bans and boycotts
Dubai
D
ue to the international attention an Olympic Games
draws, countries hiding political blemishes most often
come under the spotlight. The International Olympic
Committee has occasionally taken the extraordinary step of
barring a country from competing.
1948 Two major powers of World War II, Germany
and Japan, were suspended from the Olympic Games.
The suspensions were only lifted in 1956. The Soviet
Union was invited, but chose not to send any athletes.
1964 The IOC banned South Africa from participating
in the Olympics, a ruling that lasted until 1992. South
Africa’s ban resulted from the government’s refusal to
renounce apartheid. Government-instituted racial discrimi-
nation was so pronounced that white and black athletes were
even barred from competing against one another. South Africa
protested the ban, the longest in modern Olympic history, but
didn’t exactly have the support of any of its neighbours in its
objections. In fact, in 1976, 25 African nations boycotted the
Olympics. They were not standing in support of South Africa,
but rather protesting against the IOC’s refusal to ban New Zea-
land, which sent a rugby team, the All Blacks, to compete in
South Africa. The IOC said that since rugby was not an Olym-
pic sport, there was nothing it could do.
1972 Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was banned from the
Olympics as the result of a 36 to 31 vote by the IOC
held four days before the opening ceremonies. Afri-
can countries had threatened to boycott the Munich games
had the white minority-ruled regime been permitted to send
a team. The ban occurred over the objections of IOC president
Avery Brundage, who, in his speech following the Munich
massacre, controversially compared the anti-Rhodesia cam-
paign to the terrorist attack on the Olympic village.
1999 The IOC took a similar stance when it banned
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan from competing in the 2000
Sydney Olympic Games. The committee cited not only
Afghanistan’s oppression of women, but specifically laws for-
bidding them to play sports at all. When the Taliban lost its
grip on Afghanistan, the IOC reinstated Afghanistan’s national
teams and in Athens 2004, Afghanistan even had two female
athletes participating for the first in its history.
2008ThemorerecentexampleofarowbetweenIOCand
acompetingnationhappenedjustweeksbeforethestart
oftheGamesfouryearsago,whenitlookedlikeIraqmight
not be allowed to compete following a controversial decision
by Iraqi authorities to hand-pick members of the Iraqi National
Olympic Committee. The IOC decried this act as “government
interference” and banned Iraqi athletes from participating,
only for a last-minute deal allowed Iraq to compete in Bei-
jing. And to think that four years earlier, in the 2004 Olympic
Games held in Athens, Iraqi teams were cheered on as they
appeared at the Games for the first time since the fall of
Saddam Hussain.
2012 At the London Olympic Games, Saudi Arabia
nearly drew a ban from the IOC for “limiting women’s
access to physical education and preventing them
from competing in any sporting event at a national level”
for initially refusing to have women as part of its squad.
Troubled house
■■ India’s flag-bearer Su-
shil Kumar carries the
national flag as he leads
the contingent in the
athletes’ parade during
the opening ceremony of
the London 2012 Olympic
Games at the Olympic
Stadium in July.
Reuters
Sharad Pawar
AP
Lalit Bhanot
PTI
Suresh Kalmadi
AP
Gagan Narang
Reuters
Saina Nehwal
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Mandatory Credit: Photo by Simon Stacpoole / Rex Features (1082964b)
Patrick Vieira holding his Man City shirt
Patrick Vieira unveiled as a Manchester City FC player, Manchester, Britain - 08 Jan 2010
World Cup winning midfielder Patrick Vieira signed from Inter Milan
Dubai
M
anchester City
official and for-
mer France in-
ternational Pat-
rick Vieira never
shirked a challenge during a
distinguished 17-year foot-
ball career, becoming one of
the greatest midfielders in
English Premier League his-
tory thanks to his combative
approach and whole-hearted
commitment to Arsenal.
But now, more than a year
after his last game for City,
he’s facing a very different
test of his mettle as Football
Development Executive at the
Etihad Stadium.
For many ex-professionals,
a role like Vieira’s would be a
chance to pick up a fat salary
while doing perfunctory du-
ties and wearing a nice suit.
But taking the easy option
has never been the tall and
commanding former mid-
fielder’s style. Instead, he’s
striving to ensure his wealth
of experience of European and
world football will be used
productively, becoming a vital
cog in the English champions’
behind-the-scenes opera-
tions.
For example, he’s helped
formulate plans for City’s
proposed £100 million-plus
(Dh592 million) Etihad Cam-
pus, which will open in 2014
and will include the club’s
football academy and 16 full-
size pitches, among other
state-of-the-art facilities.
In the process, he’s also
sought to broaden his knowl-
edge of how every facet of the
City machine works to further
his own personal develop-
ment.
Speaking to Gulf News
courtesy of Manchester City
and the Premier League, Viei-
ra said: “My role is to get ex-
perience of how things work
outside the game. I’ve played
football for 15 or 20 years and
I know everything about foot-
ball, but I never learned the
other side of the game, the
business side of it. I’ve been
spending time in different
departments at City, learning
what their objectives are and
being part of some of the pro-
jects here.
“I really wanted to under-
stand how a football club is
run, not just on the pitch but
off it as well. I’ve been learn-
ing a lot and trying to give
things back to the club by
passing on my experience.”
Impressive CV
A quick look at Vieira’s im-
pressive CV reveals City have
a man of considerable stature
working for them. After be-
coming captain of French club
Cannes at the age of only 19,
two years after his first ap-
pearance, Vieira embarked on
a trophy-laden European od-
yssey with AC Milan, the Gun-
ners, Juventus and Inter Milan,
before ending his career with
City in 2011 after a one-year
stint at the Etihad Stadium.
He was also part of France’s
golden generation that won
successive major tournaments
— the 1998 World Cup on
home soil and the 2000 Euro-
pean Championships.
Having experienced a host
of stratospheric highs on the
football field for nearly half
his adult life, Vieira could have
been forgiven for breaking
into a cold sweat and scream-
ing inwardly “what now?”
after hanging up his boots.
But the intelligent and astute
36-year-old was never likely
to flounder like some ex-
professionals, who find a life
without football is a life hardly
worth living.
He began his new role just
two months after calling it a
day following the FA Cup final
win over Stoke City at Wem-
bley in May 2011, when he
came on as a late substitute to
pick up yet another winner’s
medal.
Vieira, a part of Arsenal’s
“Invincibles” team which
went through the 2003/04
league season unbeaten, add-
ed: “I gave myself two years
to really understand things
overall here and then I will
find out which departments I
feel comfortable about work-
ing in and which I don’t feel
comfortable in. It’s been re-
ally good following Brian Mar-
wood [Managing Director of
the City Academy] and using
Mazza as a mentor, so it’s been
a really exciting two years.”
Moving into management
is “one of his options” in the
future, he admitted, revealing
that he is working on getting
his Fifa coaching badges. He
coaches at the club’s academy
on Tuesdays and Wednes-
days but, as is his wont, the
thoughtful Vieira insists “all
options are open” for his next
project.
Vieira also offers a consid-
ered and reasoned appraisal
of City’s recent travails in the
Champions League, insisting
Roberto Mancini’s men are not
far away from being a conti-
nental force despite a second
consecutive group-stage exit
from the competition.
“I believe it will take ex-
perience [to be a success in
the Champions League] and
no more than that,” he pro-
claims confidently. “I believe
we are good enough, but this
is only our second year in the
Champions League. When you
look at Arsenal, look at [Man-
chester] United, look at Chel-
sea, how many times have
they played in the Champions
League before doing well or
winning it? They know how
to deal with the pressure of
the situations in Europe, and
we don’t have that yet.
“It may take time [before
we win it], it might not. But
I believe that having stabil-
ity in the football club is very
important, building a team is
very important. I know peo-
ple will question how we were
knocked out of the Champi-
ons League at the first round
in the last two years when we
have the players we do.
“But this is the Champions
League, this is a high level. If
you make the mistakes you
make in the Premier League
in the Champions League, you
get punished straight away. I
think what we have learned
in the Champions League this
year and last year will help us
win the league again.”
Consistency
Vieira is not convinced fur-
ther investment in the team
is necessary for City to re-
alise their European dream,
maintaining that the current
squad is powerful enough to
challenge in Europe’s top club
competition.
He said: “I don’t know if
we need more players. We
have good enough players to
beat anyone. I think the way
we played against [Real] Ma-
drid in Madrid [City lost 3-2
after being 1-0 and 2-1 ahead
in September] showed how
good we are. We just need to
be consistent at that level, and
we’re not yet. We conceded
goals at important moments.
It’s just a question of experi-
ence. We have good players
in the team who can [help
us] beat anyone. We
just need to try and
make fewer mis-
takes.”
Vieira repeats
the word “stabil-
ity” like a man-
tra several times,
and is therefore
not in favour of the
club dispensing with
the services of manager
Mancini.
He does not fall for the
rather unsubtle trap of reveal-
ing who he would choose as
City boss if the fiery Italian
ceased to remain in the Etihad
hotseat.
“He’s the manager, so it’s
not necessary for me to an-
swer that question,” he said
firmly. “He signed a five-year
contract [in July], so he’s not
thinking about anything else.
Stability will bring you suc-
cess, and him signing for five
years show you how the club
wants to do things.”
But often such “stability”
at football clubs can turn into
success-starved staleness, a
criticism routinely levelled at
one of Vieira’s former clubs,
Arsenal.
The Senegal-born star fully
understands Gunners fans’
frustrations at boss Arsene
Wenger’s trophyless tenure
since the FA Cup win of 2005
– Vieira’s final game for the
club, in which he scored the
winning penalty in the shoot-
out against Manchester Unit-
ed.
But he insisted: “If you know
what Arsene did for that foot-
ball club, where the club were
[before he joined in 1996], I
think he deserves nothing but
respect. Arsene has made Arse-
nal one of the greatest clubs in
Europe.”
In contrast to the stability
of City and Arsenal, the nev-
er-ending managerial merry-
go-round at Chelsea baffles
Vieira.
“When you have someone
[Chelsea’s sacked former boss
Roberto Di Matteo] who wins
the FA Cup and Champions
League last season and is not
the manager anymore, it’s
very difficult to understand
from the outside,” he said.
City’s culture of stability,
Vieira believes, owes much to
the patient, prudent and prag-
matic way in which owner
Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed
Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime
Minister of the UAE and Min-
ister of Presidential Affairs,
and chairman Khaldoon Al
Mubarak have run the Blues
since taking charge in 2008.
Of the owners’ merits, Viei-
ra said: “First of all they love
football and they know the
name of every single player in
every single club.
“I remember after the FA
Cup final, Khaldoon came
into the dressing room to con-
gratulate the players and he
knew about goals other clubs
had scored and their players. It
was unbelievable, I was fasci-
nated about that. I think they
are special because they trust
and believe in people and let
them work — and that’s good
I think.”
Vieira is also a fan of the
owners’ homeland, disclosing
he has travelled to Abu Dhabi
several times for sponsorship
and coaching commitments
at the club’s football school in
the city. He also enjoyed a trip
to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
last year and has spent time in
Dubai visiting his friend Fabio
Cannavaro, Italy’s 2006 World
Cup-winning captain and a
former Al Ahli player.
“Abu Dhabi is more laid-
back, while Dubai is crazy,”
he laughs, when asked to
compare the two very differ-
ent cities.
“I like it there [the UAE]
and every time I’ve been, I’ve
had a good time. It’s nice but it
changes like crazy every time
I go back. What really im-
presses me is that every time I
go there, it feels like I am go-
ing to a new place with all the
new buildings going up all the
time.”
‘All we need is experience’Vieira insists Man City’s ‘stability’ can reap dividends on the European stage
By Euan Reedie
Deputy Sports Editor
W
ho do you think should win the Bal-
lon d’Or competition to elect the
best footballer in the world: Lionel
Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?
I don’t want to get into that kind of debate,
as I know both players and really respect
both of them. They are unbelievable play-
ers who are among the greatest players ever.
I think what they are doing is unbelievable
— they score so many goals week after week
and hardly ever get injured and always want
to play.
Who was the greatest player you played
with?
At the international level, I would say Zin-
edine Zidane, no doubt about it. But at club
level, I would say Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry
Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lilian Thuram,
Pavel Nedved and Samuel Eto’o. I could give
you so many names as I’ve been lucky to
have played with so many good players.
Who were your footballing heroes as a
boy?
When I was young in the 1980s in France,
we had a generation of players known
as the ‘Carre Magique’ [magic square]
containing [midfielders] Alain Giresse,
Michel Platini, Jean Tigana and Luis Fer-
nandez.
For me, Fernandez was a hero as he
played in my position. He also gave me
my debut at Cannes. I also liked the Dutch
legend Frank Rijkaard, who was inspira-
tional for me.
Which player would you sign for
Manchester City if you could?
I am a big fan of [Barcelona and
Spain midfielder] Andres Iniesta —
he’s got everything. He can score
goals, he’s a team player, he’s got
a great attitude. I love
this player.
Four quick questions for Vieira
By Euan Reedie
Deputy Sports Editor
on his mind
Swapping roles
After a long playing
career taking in
big-name clubs such as
Arsenal, Juventus and
Manchester City, former
France international
Patrick Vieira is now
keen on a career as a
football administrator.
Rex Features
Patrick Vieira
profile
■■ Date of birth: June 23, 1976
■■ Place of birth: Dakar, Senegal
■■ Height: 1.93 m (6ft 4ins)
■■ Playing position: Central
midfielder
■■ Playing career:
Years Team Apps Gls
1994–96 Cannes 49 2
1996 Milan 2 0
1996–2005 Arsenal 279 29
2005–2006 Juventus 31 5
2006–2010 Inter Milan 67 6
2010–2011 Man City 28 3
Total: 456 45
National team
1995–1996 France U21 7 0
1997–2009 France 107 6
❝When you look
at Arsenal, look
at [Manchester]
United, look at
Chelsea, how
many times have
they played in the
Champions League
before doing well or
winning it?”
Patrick Vieira |
Man City official
By Alaric Gomes
Senior Reporter