Village of champions, ground of neglect: Tragedy exposes Haryana’s sports crisis

No government-appointed coaches, a basic open-air ground, makeshift equipment and virtually no technical oversight — this has long defined the state of the basketball ground at Lakhan Majra village in Rohtak district, where a rusted hoop pole collapsed on Tuesday, killing national player Hardik Rathi.

The stark irony is that despite the absence of institutional support, this humble patch of land has produced nearly 50 national and international basketball players — boys and girls — over the past two decades. Many of them have secured government jobs on the strength of their achievements, building an extraordinary sporting legacy that stands in sharp contrast to the crumbling infrastructure they trained on.

Villagers told ‘The Tribune’ that the pole which collapsed had been installed in 2016. The girls’ team had received a pair of poles as a prize after winning a tournament, but these remained unused for some time. When the older poles installed in 2009 began to deteriorate, villagers replaced them with the unused pair lying in a corner of a village school.

Haryana Basketball Association president Ajay Sheoran, who inspected the site today, held the authorities squarely responsible. “It’s apparent that there has been no support from the government authorities, including the Sports Department, to this stadium. The situation is similar at many other places as well,” he said. Emphasising that basketball is an indoor sport, he added, “We demand two indoor grounds in this village.”

For years, local players have pooled money and mobilised support from influential persons to maintain the facility. Senior athletes have informally taken on coaching duties, keeping the village’s basketball culture alive. Their efforts recently bore fruit when two village boys — including the deceased Hardik Rathi — were selected by the Indian Basketball Federation for the national team.

Sandeep Singh, a resident of Lakhan Majra and husband of sarpanch Usha Devi, said the village’s rise in state basketball began in 2008 when its team defeated traditional rival Kiloi after nearly 25 years. “After that victory, local MP Deepender Hooda provided funds to help set up the basketball ground,” he said. Singh added that Hooda sanctioned around Rs 18.50 lakh two years ago to develop the stadium, but “the grant is yet to be utilised”.

“The entire village is mourning Hardik’s death… The whole village is in shock,” he said. Singh noted that senior players like Jagbir, Kaptan and Mohit Rathi have trained youngsters for decades. A government-appointed coach briefly ran a sports nursery, but it was discontinued recently, forcing players to continue training on their own.

Documents reviewed by ‘The Tribune’ show that a grant of Rs 12.30 lakh sanctioned from MP Hooda’s MPLAD funds has remained unused for two years. The DRDA’s chief executive officer had written to the Panchayati Raj executive engineer in November 2023 approving construction of a basketball court. Hooda sanctioned another Rs 6.2 lakh in June this year. Although tenders were recently floated, work has not begun.

Hooda criticised officials for failing to utilise funds and demanded action against DRDA and Sports Department officers. “Infrastructure is collapsing… despite athletes bringing glory to the country, discrimination against Haryana is evident — only Rs 80 crore was released for a state that wins the highest number of medals,” he said.

DRDA CEO-cum-ADC Rohtak, Narender Kumar, said he is conducting an inquiry. “I have been tasked with putting all the facts related to the matter to the district administration,” he said.