Post-COVID world could be a blessing in disguise for Indian sports: Abhinav Bindra

New Delhi: Legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra believes once the coronavirus pandemic subsides, it could be a blessing in disguise for Indian sports due to absence of much foreign exposure.

“The post-COVID-19 world could be a blessing in disguise for India. There may not be so much foreign exposure and this may allow India to build proper sporting infrastructure. We need to build our own coaches and our own support staff,” Bindra said on Monday.

The entire sporting calendar has come to a grinding halt across the world due to the coronavirus pandemic. Major sporting events, including Tokyo Olympics and Wimbledon, have either been postponed or cancelled.

Bindra, India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist, alongwith Nandan Kamath, lawyer and managing trustee GoSports Foundation, on Monday addressed the newly-appointed assistant directors and other senior officials of Sports Authority of India (SAI) during a special session.

Bindra said that as sports administrators they need to work towards creating an alternate skill development programme for athletes to ensure their well-being in the long run.

“We need to look after athletes because the very nature of sport is that more will fail than succeed. It is important that athletes have backup plans in case their sports career doesn’t work out,” he pointed out.

Bindra further said that sports administrators need to understand the psychology of an athlete to be able to build them up because athletes pass through different phases because of the nature of sport and the probability of failure. IANS

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