Need to encourage sports culture: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju

BENGALURU: To facilitate a deeper and constructive dialogue on preserving ethics in sports, corporate governance and the role of sports in connecting humanity, it is necessary to play sport as sport and not consider it as war.

This was one of the suggestions put forth on the opening day of the two-day 6th World Summit on Ethics and Leadership in Sports, which is being organized by the Art of Living Foundation along with the World Forum for Ethics in Business.

Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Law and Justice and former Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, shared his views on the need to encourage a culture of sports in India, creating career opportunities within the ecosystem for players to take up roles as coaches, managers, sporting businesses and for a diverse viewership in sports outside of cricket.

"India has a rich history and tradition of sports that goes back to ancient times. But over the years, the evolution of the society didn't bring sports culture in the country to the extent we would desire," he said.

"Sports isn't only about winning and losing, it is more about participation and engaging the self," he stated.

"Loving your favourite sportspersons is good, having an attachment to the game is critical. Let us compete in games with sportsman spirit instead of fighting with bullets," the Union Minister explained.

The summit sought to draw a roadmap to use fair and clean sport as a tool to unite people in a post-pandemic world riddled by conflict, economic crisis and mental health issues. The matter of ethics in sporting events had recently been the centre of discussion, especially with the upcoming controversial FIFA World Cup.

"Sports can be that one thing that can bring people together. But today sport is played like war and wars are waged like sport," said Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

"Players should play with a sense of responsibility and have a sense of sacredness towards their viewers and fans. Ethics is simply not doing what one does not want to be done to them and this awareness is very important," he added.

"Ethics and leadership in sports are not discussed often enough," said 25-time billiards and snooker world champion Pankaj Advani, "FIR is known for fair play, integrity, and respect in the world of sport. This is to believe that we actually can play sport with fairness, integrity and respect not only for our sport but for our opponents, audience and rules." Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh, a hockey star who was once hit by a stray bullet and subsequently fought back to represent the country again, too shared his views. "Sports is not just about playing a game. It brings honour to the country by becoming a medium for the national anthem to be played at international forums when a player wins a game. In sports, you can win in the international arena without violence." The summit not only focused on bringing attention to the critical challenges related to sports governance such as corruption, doping and human rights, but also recognized the good that sports stand for by celebrating positive role models. (IANS)

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