The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Immature response to Manchester showing
Ramu Sharma

FOR a civilization considered one of the oldest in the world, modern India as a country quite often behaves like a child given a new toy. That about sums up the reaction of the government and important sports organisations to the performances of the Indian contingent in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games. The overall response has been very immature to say the least. It has been in fact overdone.

No one grudges euphoria over performances on the international field particularly considering the generally poor showing over long periods. But to go overboard over medals won in disciplines where the general standard was not of a very high competitive level speaks poorly of the knowledge and perception of the authorities at home.

India indeed has done well with a load of medals at the Commonwealth Games at Manchester. It has never won so many gold medals at any time. But frankly, with the exception of women’s hockey the other rewards, particularly in the measurable events, collected do not fall into any commendable level.

The women’s team has indeed performed beyond expectations. Beating teams like New Zealand, South Africa and England is a great achievement, particularly since women’s hockey in the these countries is on a very high priority list. In India, despite the Federation’s claim, the game has yet to gain momentum. The Federation may point to the fact that India won the gold medal in the 1982 Asian Games and just about failed to qualify for the World Cup but that is not sufficient evidence of the overall popularity of the game at the grass root level. Yes, the federation does annually conduct the junior and senior nationals but it cannot deny the fact that the game is not played at club, school or college level in sufficient numbers. In fact very few of the affiliated units conduct championships at state level. Perhaps in view of the victory at the Commonwealth Game, things might improve.

But for all its fine showing the government, in its eagerness, could well be said to have over-reacted. A largesse of Rs 10 lakhs per player may have set a precedent. One does not want to grudge the players this money but there has to be some sort of limit to even this sort of gestures. Also at the same time, one hopes that while distributing such large sums, the government includes the manager and the doctor. It was a team effort and the manager, an old international, should not be left out. And the doctor too is an integral part of any winning combination.

Now to the measurable events. Indian weightlifters and shooters, along with wrestlers, have nearly always done well at the Commonwealth Games. Without taking away the sheen from their performances it must be understood that the general standard in these events in the Commonwealth Games is not very high.

Expectedly this year’s tally has been even more impressive but what has not been recorded is that not one weightlifter for instance, has been able to better his own personal best at the competition. In fact none of them even matched the performances at the trials held before the Games. That there were incidents of positive dope testing is another matter. One of the lifters testing positive, Sateesha Rai is a former champion and would not possibly do anything to ruin his reputation. He has on record been tested for drugs at the international level some 33 times and has always come clean. And the minister who has been quick to blame the federation has not been advised well. The lifters were tested at the SAI laboratory in Delhi at least three times. The question should have been asked from the SAI which is a government body. The truth will of course will take some time but it is too early to start accusing anyone.

The shooters, too, have been regular medal winners and some of them have world rating. But they were not exactly stretched at the Commonwealth Games and as is evident from the reported statement of Jaspal Rana, one of the multiple gold medallists, that India will have to improve to do well in the Asian Games. This statement does not need any elaboration or explanation. The shooter has been bluntly honest. The standard in the Commonwealth Games was not as good as in the Asian Games.

A better appreciation and understanding of sport and a knowledge of the standard prevailing in the world would perhaps help the authorities from over-reacting. Unfortunately this is not the first time that people in responsible positions have been mislead into such reaction. It is time the Sports Ministry is made to understand and realize where India stands in the world of sport. But then who can blame the ministry from over- indulgence when the BCCI in India, a body which should know where Indian cricket stands in the world, promises Rs 1 crore for winning the Natwest Trophy. This was one positive performances in a string of dismal ones from the well paid cricketers who promptly reverted to old ways after the one dayers in England.

Given the generally poor showing it is a wonder that India is still over optimistic and continues to bid for the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and, believe it or not, the World Cup Football. This optimism is indeed strange since India failed to outbid Qatar for the Asian Games. And mind you India is the founder nation of the Asian Games.

Olympics: did the mafia trade in gold?
N.P. Walsh and Phillip Willan

DOUBLE crosses and triple lutzes — surely there has never been a more hilarious caper in modern sports history than the tale of the Russian mob and the alleged fixing of Olympic ice skating championships. What is up with these people — have they never seen Goodfellas? Don’t they know that gangsters are supposed to trade in drugs and murder, not tights and triple Salkos?

Hilarious, indeed, but while skating impresarios get to work on plans for a touring roadshow starring retired Olympic champions and convicted felons (provisional title: Mobsters on Ice), figure skating pairs champions Anton Sikharulidze and his partner Yelena Berezhnaya have failed to see the satirical possibilities.

The gold medallists are threatening to sue American television networks over the insinuation that Russian businessman Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov tried to secure himself a French visa by fixing the results of the ice skating events.

‘I saw our pictures on the screen while they were talking about some kind of Russian mafia... this is a political action,’ an emotional Sikharulidze said following the US networks’ blanket coverage of Tokhtakhounov’s arrest. ‘This scandal will benefit the TV people and the show organisers since it helps raise public interest in figure skating.’

Tokhtakhounov, long suspected to be a member of the Russian mafia, was arrested in Venice last week. He is accused of running an illegal operation, which secured the gold medal for the Russians in the figure skating event and a gold medal for French ice dancers Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerate as the trade-off.

According to US attorney James Comey, Tokhtakhounov and two unnamed associates arranged a neat quid pro quo. `You line up support for the Russian pair, we’ll line up support for the French pair and everyone will go away with the gold, and perhaps there will be a little gold for me,’ Comey said, quoting from conversations overheard on police wiretaps. In this instance, the `little gold’ is alleged to be a French entry visa allowing the accused to return to the country where he spent most of the 1990s.

Ice skating aficionados may recall that Sikharulidze and Berezhnaya’s victory in Salt Lake was tainted when a French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, admitted she had been pressurised to vote for the Russian couple instead of the widely favoured Canadian pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. The International Olympic Committee responded to allegations of corruption by awarding gold medals to both the Russians and Canadians, as well as suspending Le Gougne from competition judging for three years.

However, Le Gougne denies any contact with Tokhtakhounov. `She has never heard of [Tokhtakhounov], she’s never met with him, she has never seen him, she’s never spoken with him,’ Erik Christiansen, Le Gougne’s lawyer, said.

The Russian couple also denied any knowledge of the accused. If this is the case — and there is no suggestion the skaters have ever met or spoken to Tokhtakhounov — they can count themselves in the minority within their country’s athletic community, because as this unlikely story of gangsters and ice dancers has unfolded, so too has Tokhtakhounov’s background as a mover and shaker in the Russian sports world.

Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Tokhtakhounov has long been suspected of having criminal ties, although there has been debate over the extent and seriousness of his activities. One school of thought (largely discredited) has him pegged as a petty criminal and small-time gambler. In the Soviet era he was arrested for failing to hold down a job — illegal under the Communist regime — and branded a `thief within the law’; a euphemism for being a member of the Russian mob. ‘I don’t think he has ever been high in the crime world hierarchy... he used to win money at cards from travellers and servicemen in hotels,’ a former Russian government minister said in a 1999 television interview.

Nevertheless, after the fall of the Soviet bloc, Tokhtakhounov was implicated in more serious crimes, including arms dealing and antiques smuggling. Included in his circle of friends were the Chernoi brothers — big-time metal traders who came to own the country’s aluminium industry and who were later accused of having mob links.

Although a Russian citizen, Tokhtakhounov has not been there since 1990, according to the Interior Ministry in Moscow. He spent the intervening years in France and, Italy, where he owned apartments in Rome and Milan, as well as a two-storey villa in the exclusive Tuscan beach resort of Forte dei Marmi, where he spent the summer months. Neighbours there spoke of a procession of smart cars and even smarter women beating a path to his door.

It was this wealth that allowed him to indulge his life-long interest in sport — he was once the coach of a Soviet army team — and mix with some of his country’s most prominent stars, including tennis player Andrei Medvedev, whose car he was driving when he was arrested. Fellow tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov described the accused as a `good friend’ and said he was sure the arrest was a mistake.

Tokhtakhounov was also known to have associated with Pavel Bure, Russia’s most famous ice hockey player, and Ruslan Nigmatullin, the Russian national soccer team’s goalkeeper.

While there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by any of these athletes, Mikhail Nazarkin, an organised crime expert with the Russian Interior Ministry, said such socialising was not unusual for a prominent criminal don. `Having reached certain heights and acquired a certain status, someone like Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov usually wants to dissociate himself to a certain extent from the world he comes from,’ he said. ‘Hence a strong desire to become a patron of arts, sports or something along these lines.’

The Italian authorities were investigating Tokhtakhounov in connection with a scheme to launder mob money through American banks, which involved reinvesting the proceeds of criminal activity in expensive furniture, which was exported to Russia by companies in the Venice area. He was visiting the city when he was arrested.

By arrangement with The Guardian

Manchester showing praiseworthy

THE Indian performance at the Commonwealth Games has been superb. India finished third on the medal tally with 32 gold, 21 silver and 19 bronze. Some medallists deserve special treatment. They are Anjali Bhagwat and Jaspal Rana. Both of them earned four gold each in shooting. Kunjarani and Sanamacha Chanu also earned three gold each in the same event. The weightlifters helped to improve our position. The unprecedented performance of the women’s hockey team also needs to be appreciated. They overpowered tough rivals like New Zealand, England and Australia and captured the gold medal. The decision of the government to honour these sportspersons is praiseworthy.

Bansi Ram, Garhshanker

Kudos to the Indian contingent for winning 32 gold , 21 silver and 19 bronze medals in the Commonwealth Games. The women’s hockey team also won a gold for the first time. Kudos to Ms Uma Bharti for announcing cash awards. Why can’t we repeat the performance in the Olympics?

Y.L. Chopra, Bathinda

III

In the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, the Indians performed beyond expectations. In hockey our women’s team defeated South Africa in the semifinal 4-3 and in a crucial match they defeated England 3-2 through the golden-goal to clinch the gold. Three girls in the Indian squad were from SAI, Chandigarh. The players and coaches should be suitably honoured.

B.M. Singh Narang, Chandigarh

Spare a thought

The nation is rejoicing over our contingent’s performance in Manchester. The leaders and people are enthusiastic over the monetary awards running into lakhs. Every member of the women’s hockey squad, too, has been rewarded fabulously. But what about the heroes of another arena, who bleed for the nation to defend its borders so that safety and security prevails? We even forgot to remember the valiant fighters of the Kargil operations. Should not our hearts go out to heroes of the battlefield also while rewarding others? Are our decorated soldiers not meritorious enough for such a gesture of gratitude ?

Rajinder Singh, Jalandhar