Chandrashekar to the rescue

The Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Hanumanthanagar Corporation Ward

Stepping in to spare blushes
The lackadaisical attitude of the DYSS and KSBBA almost caused an embarrassment to the country, but the new venue proved to be a saviour.

Deccan Herald

Despite the legacy of a rich sporting tradition, Karnataka has of late acquired the Last-Minute Syndrome (LMS). For, be it the National Games (1997), the World Doubles Tennis Championship (2000) or the Asian Basketball Championship for Junior Men, the tale is the same: of inefficiency, indecisiveness, inadequacy, laid back demeanour and a lack of direction.

As in past instances, Karnataka could well have had it’s face smeared with grease, had it not been for the the industry of a corporator. With time running out fast and paperwork for procuring material for the wooden flooring to be laid at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium caught in a bureaucratic mire, the Karnataka Basketball Association, which had readily accepted FIBA-Asia’s offer to stage the Asian Basketball Championship (juniors), turned to former Bangalore Mayor K Chandrashekar as late as September 8, requesting that he agree to host the first half of the event at the yet-to-be inaugurated Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

Thankfully, the facility, part of a dainty sports complex, created over seven-acres of wasteland near Chamarajpet, had everything in place, winning the approval of the FIBA-Asia secretary general Dato Yeoh Choohock. As fate would have it, henceforth, Chandrashekar’s brainchild, worth every penny of the Rs15 crore project, will be regarded as an international venue.

This story is not to glorify an individual. But to capture the ineptitude, unpreparedness and callousness of the government agency, in this case the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS), and the Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBBA). FIBA-Asia had offered KSBBA the right to host the event way back in December 2003. Nine months later, the KSBBA and DYSS are still shuttling between the Chennai dockyard and the railway platform at Whitefield, desperately seeking to transport the wooden planks, which they bought from USA. According to a reliable source, the order was placed only in late July!

If the DYSS and KSBBA were to attribute the delay to transport strike last fortnight, they would only lying through their teeth. There was ample time on hand to place the order, have the material shipped and have it in place for the City’s only international sporting event in two years. It is but baffling that neither the DYSS nor the KSBBA were prepared for an exigency.

Imagine, what would have been Karnataka’s predicament had the new facility, acclaimed by everyone who set foot on the court, including a Chinese player who embraced and congratulated Chandrashekar, not been ready to take on the gauntlet. Would the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) shifted the tournament to another city? As one FIBA official put it, KSBBA “could have been blacklisted.”

It is but a shame that neither the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium nor the Koramangala Indoor stadium, which are home to more exhibitions than sports events, could not stage an event of such import. Come to think of it, the state government had spent over 200 crore towards infrastructure development and equipment for the conduct of the 1997 National Games.

It is a different matter that nothing has been heard about inquiry the government had ordered over the Rs 147 crore scam that followed the Games. But should Karnataka sports be reduced to a joke?