Govt must spend more to make India a sporting superpower

Editor’s note: This is a reader comment we received on the article, “Should Indian sportspersons keep asking the Govt for help?”. Harkol has a comment which argues the writer's point that Indian athletes should be more grateful for the money they receive from the government. As per Firstpost policy, we have lightly edited for grammar and spelling, but the comment has been left as is.By HarkolThe reason why our top athletes need to train abroad (which in itself is the source of huge expenses) is because there are no worthwhile facilities created by the corrupt Sports Authority of India. SAI spends most of its budget unproductively and wastes too much money on officials' facilities & luxury.[caption id="attachment_1253373" align="alignleft" width="380"] 'If govt facilitated creation of good and adequate education infrastructure, then we won't have so many people going abroad for studies.' AP[/caption]The situation in our sports is similar to our education system. If govt facilitated creation of good and adequate education infrastructure, then we won't have so many people going abroad for studies.Without understanding the source of expenses, the author is making all sorts of claims.In China govt provides two major benefits to its athletes:1. Fantastic sports complex at govt expense.2. Lifelong financial security for reasonably good athletes through various programs.In India, cricket drowns out all other sports sponsorship, thus creating a brand is not easy. Check the top chess grandmasters or even Vishy Anand's endorsement deals. They are not the things that'll make sports people rich. Only a top few get by.Even cricket thrives because of the massive govt subsidies given in the early part of its emergence. Massive stadiums and training facilities have helped the growth of cricket. There aren't enough such facilities for other sports.We won't become a sporting nation unless govt provides incentives to promising prospects and spends money on them.