The Ministry of Sport in India has officially black-flagged Formula1 as a sport! For those who are not much in sync with the ‘black flag’ and its meaning in motorsport – it means immediate disqualification!! So Formula1 has been disqualified by the Indian Government. Ouch!
Well the Ministry of Sport hasn’t been short of controversies and of course those who head it, but this new one is slightly unexpected. Formula1 for the longest of times has been waiting to hit the Indian shores and the time is only apt. India is progressing well as a country, a sporting nation and of course our GDP even in these recessionary times has been better.
Motorsport-wise too, the growth has been good. We’ve had a liquor baron buy and run his own Formula1 team and of course, we also do have India’s F1 ace Narain Karthikeyan leading India’s challenge successfully in the A1 Grand Prix. However, it is not this success that I wish to throw light on here.
The Ministry of Sport has declared that Formula1 is not a sport and that it is more entertainment. Hence, it shouldn’t enjoy any benefits from the Government. While their decision of course is unfair, what is surprising is that it has been declared as entertainment than sport!!
While the MoS passed this statement, it didn’t realize the foolishness behind it. Nor did it realize the repercussions [foolish!!] that its statement would offer to the world-wide Formula1 audience.
Firstly, Formula1 is a modern sport – having said that. It of course is not a conventional ‘man to man’ sport. It offers a different spectacle; that is of a ‘man machine’ sport. Here not just men, but machines compete too.
It is a widely known phenomenon that Formula1 drivers are one of the fittest athletes in the world and one only need to take a closer to know. Unlike conventional athletes, who usually need to ‘peak’ only during their annual fixtures, Formula1 drivers need to remain at their ‘peak’ close to 10 months of the year. Not just the Grand Prixs, but even the tests are equally draining.
Secondly, it is high time the MoS realize that entertainment might just be the way forward to promote other sports in an otherwise one-sport nation. The only way to attract the masses is to offer a ‘sporting-tainment’ solution and this ain’t no rocket science to the sports marketers who not only conceptualized but also made the Indian Premier League into a top 10 sporting brand in the world. Just when we thought that Cricket in India had reached its peak, IPL happened and a lot of its success is attributed to the ‘entertainment’ that it offered and not just the sport.
Its high time the Ministry of Sports shed its purist and i-know-it-all attitude and adopt many of the models that have worked for sport internationally and work towards turning India into a sporting super-power! Ape the west for a change I’d say!
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... well its a way the government is saying, that they are not interested in getting such sports to India. Nothing that they can do, and did u really think F1 will actually land in India so soon??? Who is it in the photo??? what did he actually say to the press??? how do I know what ur saying is authentic??? |
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