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Love all, play!

K Bhaskaran

The return of the prodigal calls for celebration. For it will usher in an era of real development and progress in the badminton arena in India.

The merger of the Indian Badminton Confederation, formed in mid-June by players, officials and state associations disgruntled with and demoralised by the working of the men in power, with the Badminton Association of India, which was announced in New Delhi on Thursday, 25 September, is thus most welcome.

For a start, the merger would stop the dissipation of energies and funds so vital for Indian badminton. The formation of the IBC drove the wedge deep enough to make a vertical split inevitable. Worse, though money began to come into the game through sponsorships -- and hopefully, the trend will soon spread to television rights -- the benefits, which may have been reduced by overheads, had to be shared between the two rival associations.

Besides, the open split between the two bodies would not have appealed to the corporations and industrial houses willing to put money into the game. They would have begun to hesitate a bit, wonder just how much the game could be hit by the infighting and, even when they did make contributions, they would have been of a token nature.

The BAI's first major event of the season, last month in New Delhi, will bear this out. Without the leading players of the country, who had thrown in their lot with the IBC and Prakash Padukone, the tournament was a wash-out, despite attractive prize money on offer.

Interestingly, the rival IBC's first major event of this year drew all the top players and, besides, produced much by way of prize money with even first round losers gaining something. But that was no compensation for the fact that the players were treated by the official body as rebels, with the concomittant that their entry to international events was stymied.

Still, the confrontation has been ended before the consequences -- to the players, and the game -- got too serious. The BAI could have stuck to its guns in the firm belief that it is the body recognised by the International Badminton Federation and the Asian Badminton Confederation, and as such the group that was in a position to dictate. The IBC and its followers, especially given reports of jobs being found for players, could for their part have hoped that changing circumstances in the international arena would ultimately vindicate their stand.

Fortunately, both BAI president V K Verma and IBC president Prakash Padukone have their hearts in the right place and are keen more on the game than on their own egos. Even if there were traces of discomfort in their voices while declaring the rapprochement to the press, both were at pains to stress that they were burying the hatchet and are now looking forward to working together as the president and the executive president of the BAI.

The speed with which they have come to a reconciliation -- remember the split is only about three months old -- and the evident sincerity in thrashing out the differences and drawing up a different administrative structure and development and coaching programmes are most encouraging.

The officials, apart from the president and the executive president, have been given clearly demarcated responsibilities to oversee the health of the game and its systematic, healthy growth. A vice-president and a joint secretary from each zone will be in charge of the administration in their particular zone -- a good way to introduce decentralised functioning. The national affairs, as also the international affairs, will be handled by the president, the executive president, the two secretaries and the treasurer. All round, it is a far better administrative formation -- and it also provides for greater involvement of the players themselves in administration of the game, as the national mens' and womens' champions will be on the executive committee.

The newly constituted BAI has magnanimously agreed to let bygones be bygones and promised not to pass any sanctions against players who had allied with the IBC during the recent rebellion. And the induction of the top male and female player into the executive committee -- almost unique in world sport, this -- further heightens their feeling of belonging, of having some voice in the system.

Verma, secretary of the Air India Sports Control Board and former director of the teams' wing in the Sports Authority of India, has again proved his consideration for the players by assuring that all-out efforts would be made to secure the entries of not only Gopi Chand and Aparna Popat for tournaments on the European circuit, but to also try and get other players to participate abroad, as well.

Clearly, the new administration is player-friendly.