With change of guard at BAI, UPBA likely to lose its ‘sheen’
LUCKNOW: With the change of guard at the Badminton Association of India following the death of its chief Akhilesh Das early this month, it seems to be an end of the road for ‘good days’ of the Uttar Pradesh Badminton Association, which was the strongest among all 36 units of the governing body of the game.
Vijai Sinha, second in command in UPBA after Akhilesh Das as UPBA’s secretary-general as well as BAI secretarygeneral, has already been removed from both the bodies. Das’ son and newly-elected chairman of the state body Viraj Das does not have any experience of being dominant in the national body, which was ruled by his father since 2010 without any opposition. Akhilesh Das’ tenure will be remembered as the golden era of Indian badminton as both Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu raised the bar by winning medals at consecutive Olympics. Besides this, many other developments took Indian badminton to greater heights.
The biggest gainers of Akhilesh Das’ aura were none other than the UPBA and its officials, coaches and physios who extensively travelled with the Indian squads at major events across the world. Though all this alleged ‘self-styled’ decisions irked many within the BAI itself, no one dared to raise his voice against the decision of the top notch. Now, the focus would shift somewhere else, especially with the experienced hands staying around BAI’s new boss Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been the health minister in BJP-ruled Assam government. Sarma, who also happens to be the head of the Assam Badminton Association, has already issued instructions to clean the game’s governing body as soon as possible.
“Now, there is no space for nepotism, favoritism or any other wrong doings in the body. It is an obvious change that will take place in the set up now,” a BAI insider told HT on condition of anonymity.
“The academy in Lucknow was made the official training centre of junior shuttlers but the recent happening where officials charged each other with corruption and harassment of girl shuttlers etc., to settle their own scores, tarnished the image of the academy.”
“Now, no one is ready to send his or her daughter for training at the academy as the atmosphere there is not at all conducive for female shuttlers. Expecting anyone from this academy coming up at the national and international level in future is a distant dream,” he said.
He, however, confirmed that before or after the annual general meeting of the next month at Guwahati, BAI’s full-fledged new office would begin functioning at New Delhi. It is learnt that the present BAI office was being run from Akhilesh Das’ residence in Rajendra Nagar, New Delhi.
The two foreign coaches, who were shifted to UPBA academy by the Sports Authority of India, are also likely to be withdrawn
THE BIGGEST GAINERS OF AKHILESH DAS’ AURA WERE NONE OTHER THAN THE UPBA AND ITS OFFICIALS, COACHES AND PHYSIOS WHO EXTENSIVELY TRAVELLED WITH THE INDIAN SQUADS AT MAJOR EVENTS ACROSS THE WORLD
soon. “What is the need of having foreign coaches at the academy when there are no girls shuttlers for training? Now it is the jurisdiction of SAI where to shift these coaches,” confirmed a SAI official.