Minister interrupts Hockey Final at National School Games

It seems that despite all effort to make a standout hero of the sport, somewhere, India's current system of appeasement seems to get it all wrong once again. If you thought the culture of hero-worshipping athletes was all that was wrong with Indian sports, in this particular instance, greeting a politician took precedence over the proper completion of a hockey match at the National School Games. According to a report in The Tribune, a good 15 minutes of the Boys final between Punjab and Delhi still remained when the match was abruptly stopped. The reason? The all-important final was interrupted so that

Punjab Education Minister, O.P. Soni could greet the players on the field. Once that was over, one could probably expect the match to resume but sadly, that was not the case. When the clock was stopped, the team from Punjab had a good 3-0 lead over their opponents and, ultimately, this was the scoreline that was carried as the final one with the title going to Punjab. According to the description in the original report, "The sudden stoppage confused the players, but then another announcement welcomed Soni to the turf. The sweating, breathless players then formed a queue to shake hands with the minister." The minister in question also reportedly gave an explanation for his discourteous interruption saying that he needed to depart quickly and, therefore, the untimely speech was a necessity. A couple of questions here. It must be kept in mind that this tournament was one exclusively for school children, with budding athletes who probably expect a lot from the sport that they have chosen to devote their time and energy to. In their formative years, what sort of message is being sent out to these youngsters? In what was probably their most important match in recent times, the fact that a minister was given precedence over their game is unthinkable. Secondly, with so much attention being paid to the grassroots by the current ruling party, should not the School Games be considered even more important and at par with its relatively newer cousin, Rathore's flagship initiative, the

Khelo India School Games? The Tribune report however stated that the minister in question was apparently unaware of the fact that he had interrupted the game before it had completed properly. 'I was told that the match was finished and Punjab had won 3-0,' he was quoted as saying. Punjab has hosted the said tournament for the first time and surprisingly, even the Delhi Team in-charge refused to accept that the match had not been played to its stipulated time of 60-minutes. 'Two halves were played for 30 minutes each and it was completed,' Singh was quoted as saying.