Abu Metha with President of Athletics Federation of India & former Olympian, Adille Sumariwala in Nairobi, Kenya.
Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | August 28
The recent appointment of Abu Metha as the Associate Vice President of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has exuded more hope for sports to grow in Nagaland. He has just recently led the Indian Team at World Athletics U20 Championships held in Nairobi, Kenya, a first from the North East to have led the Indian Contingent.
Displayed there was India’s best ever performance even as he told The Morung Express that “it felt wonderful to be part of a team that has made history.” Describing it as “a great privilege and honour”, he recalled that “especially walking out into the arena at the opening ceremony, leading the Indian contingent, I felt that it was not me walking there, but I represented the aspirations and pride of our people. It’s not my achievement alone but of our whole state and the entire region. It’s an experience I will never forget and I will tell it with pride and honour to my children and grandchildren God willing.”
North East, he feels, “is an untapped talent bank for sports in the country” but to have a bright and positive future in sports, he said “we need to make investments, channelise resources towards sports and create state-of-the-art infrastructure.” In this regard, he emphasized that “the foundations need to be strengthened with good infrastructure, powered by an eco-system that supports, and the realisation of a sports culture where sports and games are seen as visible and lucrative careers rather than hobbies and recreational activities.”
Pointing out that today, “sports is a multi-billion-dollar industry, employing hundreds of thousands of people with lucrative careers within and outside the sporting arenas”, he said, “we need to look at sports as an industry and not as a recreational activity.” Expressing regret that somehow, our society and the government has failed to give adequate priority to this sector, he stated that “the government has to come forward with investments, allocate enough resources, and support the entire eco-system of sports.”
“Creation of a society with sports culture needs leagues of all disciplines at all levels, recognition and rewards for sportspersons, scholarships, job reservations, awards, support systems, centres of excellence, high performance centers and dedicated sports academies. We have to inculcate sports science into our system,” he said.
He further added that a podium finish and a medal victory does not happen by chance or through luck, but maintained that “the system and the society have to deserve it. Only then, will our athletes finish job the podium. A change of narrative will require meritocracy and transparency at all levels.”
Specific to the state, he asserted that “Nagaland needs a shift in our approach and strategy in promoting sports.” Pointing out that “we can’t keep repeating the same mistakes again and again”, he called for the need to change the narrative and give direction and purpose to our efforts.
Metha also feels that “we are compromising by wasting resources on poor quality infrastructure.” “We do not have international quality human resources and the available ones are mostly outdated. We are not using sports science. We are creating infrastructure which become immediate liabilities and have no long-term visions,” he puts across.
Stating that “we have to overcome the political and bureaucratic appetite and introduce meritocracy, transparency and pragmatic approach”, he emphasized on the need for “the right persons for the right job,” one of the reasons why he cited, “TaFMA is doing so well and getting acknowledged nationally and internationally.”
He further dwelt on the need to introduce scholarships, awards, job reservations, etc., create academies, centres of excellence, and high-performance centres while impressing upon that the state budget for sports must increase. “Now it’s too minuscule and negligible,” he said.
Decisions, with regard to sports, he said, “must be long term and not populist.” Citing an example, he said, “The installation of an astro turf football pitch at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima converted the only multi-purpose stadium in the state into a football ground” leading to many sports discipline losing out. “Now we do not even have a single ground to conduct even an inter-district athletics meet, leave alone hold regional and national events. Such decisions show lack of vision. It was the right facility in the wrong place. We will continue to regret this decision for years and years to come and the sportspersons are the biggest victims”, he added in this regard.
However, even with professional sporting careers being amongst the most respected and loved careers across the globe, apart from being highly lucrative, he reminded that “success and glory come at a price.” To the aspiring sportspersons in the state, he said, “there are no shortcuts in sports. There is only one way to success and that is hard work. You have to sweat the extra bucket and run the extra mile, everyday, if you want to finish ahead of the rest. But if you put in the hard work, there is no way, absolutely no way success will escape you. Hard work and mental strength are the only ways towards getting medals and hearing your national anthem on the podium.”
