Even in the Paris Olympics 2024 that just concluded, India came back home with zero gold medals, while China got 40 medals. In fact, its arch rival Pakistan also has a gold medal this time.
Ever wondered why the biggest economies in the world, USA and China, are always right on the top of the medal tally, while India is nowhere to be seen?
A country, which is the fifth largest economy in the world, had a chance to win 95 medals from 69 events yet only six came home this year. It had the chance to participate in as many as 42 disciplines, yet only featured in 16. The 1.4 billion Indian citizens had hopes pinned on some athletes for medals such as Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, the Indian hockey team and definitely Vinesh Phogat.
One of the biggest underlying problems is perhaps the lack of spending. In other words, you have to invest to get the return.
Yannick Colaco, Co-Founder, FanCode laid emphasis that sports at the Olympics shouldn’t be looked at in isolation and that the impact athletes have had can’t be judged by medals alone, but must include their performances.“While the Olympics come every four years- athletes are competing every year in different events and it’s important we follow or cheer for them every time. For sport to really grow, a great deal of investment needs to be made in it at various levels throughout the year, in structure, infrastructure and access,” Colaco told ET Online.
The budget game
India might’ve left China behind in the race to clinch the title of the most populous country. However, there’s another race – sports spending. India shells out just about 1.13 per cent on sports when compared to what the Chinese spend every year, according to media reports.
In absolute terms, the subcontinent has an outlined spending for sports of approximately Rs 3,400 crore as against its neighbour, who spends a whopping Rs 3 lakh crore every year.
Apart from funds, channeling and sports governance also have roles to play.
China has implemented a comprehensive sports governance system, spearheaded by the General Administration of Sport (GAS). Positioned directly under the Central Government, GAS is the primary agency responsible for shaping the country’s sports policies and strategies.
In 2023 alone, the Chinese government allocated $3.2 billion to the sports sector, reflecting a significant investment in the country’s sports infrastructure and athlete development as part of its Strong Sports Nation by 2025. This year, its budget for sports stands at more than $1 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Also Read: Olympic gold medals are worth more than ever after cost of metals surged
Meanwhile, sports governance in India likely has a different problem. There have been numerous instances where governing bodies for different sports have been suspended, warned or even banned by the international bodies including the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the Indian Olympic Association and Hockey India.
AIFF’s suspension in 2022 came in place owing to ‘third party’ influence, referred to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), which was overseeing the body’s day-to-day affairs. The top court stepped in when AIFF did not conduct elections for the President’s post, following the end of Praful Patel’s term.
As for the IOA, suspension stared at it in the same year from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after it flagged ongoing internal disputes, governance shortcomings and ongoing court cases. The IOA threatened to suspend the Indian body and order to put its house in order through an elected governing body by December.
Fielding Dreams
India is aiming to host the Olympics in 2036. While China has already hosted the marquee Games twice – the Summer Games in 2008 and the Winter Games in 2022 – India has hosted only the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, which however was marred by alleged scams and political controversies.
Also Read: Vinesh Phogat and her dangals: A tale of battling odds, injuries and a whole system
The Beijing Games 2008 had two highlights, the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube, which till date serve as an exceptional tourist attraction spot. Even the London Olympics in 2012 is an example where sustainability took the centre stage, serving as inspiration to countries like India, who have a chance to develop sports infrastructure on these lines.
It’s not like India has not been able to develop world class infrastructure. When need arises, the facilities have been made available. For instance when India had to host the 1987 Cricket World Cup or the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the nation achieved significant success and built top-notch stadiums, arenas and villages.
Khelo India, a programme in India to revive sports culture, has been one of the prime boosters in enabling sports facilities at the grassroot level, similar to China’s Provincial Sports Academies and part-time sports schools.
But what stands out for the Red Dragon is its Olympic Sport Strategy, which prioritises the engineering of champions, with elite sport success serving as a key focus.
To enhance funding efficiency and maximise Olympic medal productivity, China emphasises skill-based sports and disciplines characterised as “small, fast, women, water, and agile”—areas where global competition has traditionally been less intense.
Competing with cricket for sponsorships
In a country where cricket is so celebrated, a dream of hosting the Olympics seems only an ‘all sound and no fury’ because one key problem would be luring sponsors.
Viewership, again, is a dominant factor in gaining sponsors. While CSR in sports has come handy to several athletes and sports like JSW for Manu Bhaker in shooting and Lovlina Borgohain supported by Reliance Foundation, the need for more is always there.
Speaking in numbers, Olympics viewership has not always been the best but only fair to mention that it is improving. When JioCinema announced free streaming of the Games, it expected to garner 150 million viewers.
However, the goal was not even at par with the Indian Premier League (IPL), which attracted 168 million unique TV viewers on the opening day itself.
Like Dhoni and Virat going up against each other, Neeraj and Nadeem’s rivalry received much viewership during the men’s javelin throw final with over 5.6 crore viewers on JioCinema at midnight.
Industry players, however, look at a bright future for the Olympics in India and believe that sponsors will keep coming in. FanCode’s Colaco believes that the country has a large young population and that sports is the best outlet to reach out and engage.
“There is no doubt that sports will continue to grow in India – more and more companies are coming forward and doing their bit for the ecosystem to improve. Government continues to work and the PM has reiterated multiple times his vision of making India a sporting nation,” he added.
In a rather encouraging development, the IOC, which has 15 top-tier sponsors, expects to add an Indian one soon amid the country’s growing influence over the Olympics during a bid to host the 2036 Summer Games.
Speaking during the Paris Games, Anne-Sophie Voumard, the IOC’s marketing director termed India a country with potential and commended its developing economy.
“We would love to welcome a first The Olympic Partner (TOP) sponsor from India and I am sure that this is going to happen very, very soon. Its GDP is increasing and developing really, really nicely,” Voumard said.