"Concerned About Safety Net": Pullela Gopichand Makes Case For Protecting Future Of Indian Sportspersons

India's chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand revealed that the people and parents have interpreted his statement about children's participation in sports in a different manner. Last week, Gopichand in an interview to Newspaper was quoted as saying that children can't take up sports as their career if their parents are not financially stable. This statement provoked a sharp debate. Speaking to ANI, the Indian Badminton Coach elaborated on the statement he had made earlier to the newspaper.

"I think when you have a newspaper which is writing it, it's typically you talking to a reporter, he understanding it and writing it, writing a column and his editor editing it, something else coming up on the front page, something in the article because of place constraints and eventually the reader. There are about four to five filters which actually happen in the process where probably the entire gist of it might be changed a little bit, not necessarily because I've said anything wrong or people have understood it wrong, but to actually put an entire context in place is very important. ," Gopichand told ANI.

Further, the 51-year-old said he is ready to explain to everybody what he really meant if he gets an opportunity to talk.

"Rather than going into the specific one line, which I'm not unhappy about because I think today we are having this conversation because that statement came up that way. I think it's important. I would rather take an opportunity to make them understand what the real scenario is," Gopichand added.

The former Badminton player also revealed what made him to make a statement on children's participation in sports.

"Year after year, I see players, I see hardworking players, parents actually bringing them, burning their resources, time. And then you realize that not everybody makes it. It's not their fault. It's the nature of sport. They don't get the jobs. They don't get a secure future. And they come with a big dream. And the dream is actually shattered. I come from a very middle-class family. Many of my players who've made it also come from middle-class families. Across sports also, if you look. Actually, it's the middle class and the poorer people who actually have made it. That's the reality," Gopichand said.

"Today, when I see national champions, when I see Commonwealth medalists, when I see Asian Games medalists not having jobs, and that starts to pain me that what is the future they have? But I know out of the hundred people, one might make it. So where is the safety net? And that's all I'm concerned about," he added.

When asked whether bureaucracy is failing Indian sports, he pointed to a systemic flaw, "Because people come for short term. Their thought is next Olympics. Their thought is short, short, short. And this is a long-term issue. This needs to be addressed. At 35, when you're all the same age, you're probably better than them, you have a bigger car than them, it doesn't hurt. But at 50, when you're telling your kid, I am an Olympian, he's like, what are you talking about? You haven't earned anything. You don't have any respect. Your officer is calling you, sir, what do I do? Every time you have to...do that to an officer, then it hurts you and that hurt will stop the next generation from taking up sport."

Gopichand has reached the pinnacle of his sport winning the All England championship in 2001 and then coaching the likes of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu to Olympic glory knows what it takes to make it in sport in India. His unfiltered take now raises important questions about India's sports ecosystem.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)