'We want medals but put no effort': Kiren Rijiju calls for sports culture

India doesn't have a sport culture; athletes future depends on policy country undertakes: Union Minister

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said India does not have a 'sports culture' and there is no collective national effort which can yield results.

"We just want celebration; we just want medals and results but there is no collective national effort which can yield results in a more definitive way and more often. If you see the Olympic medals tally, it's not a good sight, not a happy scenario for a country of India's size," said Rijiju during the online launch of the High-Performance leadership programme organised by ELMS Sports Foundation and Abhinav Bindra Foundation.

"But unfortunately, we don't have a sports culture in India. How will we move forward until and unless we have a course structure for athletes as well as administrators," he added.

ELMS Sports Foundation on Saturday launched India's first-ever High-Performance Leadership Program with the Abhinav Bindra Foundation and along with Loughborough University.

The program launch was attended by Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, DG Sports Authority of India (SAI) Sandip Pradhan, ELMS Sports Foundation's promoter Vita Dani, India's first individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra and celebrated Indian badminton coach Pullela Gopichand along with participants of the program and high-ranking officers of sports in the country.

"High-Performance Sport is a simple concept that encompasses paying attention to the finer aspects of talent identification, training, and athlete development. When competing in an Olympic final where everyone is prepared to the hilt, it is that 1 per cent edge that makes all the difference," said Bindra.

"Creating an ecosystem where that mindset is paramount is what we hope to inspire in the participants. These participants will carry the High-Performance mandate forward as leaders of Indian sport, and help us bridge the gap between us and Global Best Practice," he added.

The inaugural course will be attended by leaders from the SAI, state governments, national sports federations, and private sector enterprises, as they run through five modules of how to integrate High-Performance Sport into all that they do.