Sarita Devi's brave actions expose the inherent hypocrisy of sports

I come to praise L Sarita Devi, not to bury her. Her decision to refuse a tainted bronze medal at the Asian Games was an act of courage rarely seen in the sporting arena  She has put everything at risk: her career, her reputation and her livelihood to make it clear that she will not go quietly into that good night. While sporting bodies the world over act as if sports is a refuge for all that is good and noble, the truth is much uglier. Far too often these bodies are laws unto themselves and are run like dictatorships where any dissent or difference of opinion is swiftly crushed. Organisations from IOC to Fifa demand the highest standards of sportsmanship and fair play from their athletes while remaining free to disregard even a basic level of ethics whenever they find it convenient to do so. They understand the athlete is the public face of sports and as long as that face appears bright-eyed and clean cut, fans won’t care about what happens behind the scenes. Keeping athletes in line is also why the Olympic code specifically prohibits them from making political statements at major sporting events, as if athletes exist in a bubble outside of society. Sports are as much part of popular culture as theatre or movies or books. Yet while playwrights, actors and authors are free to use their art to critique society and culture, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled from the 1968 Olympic Games for giving the black power salute on the medals podium to draw attention to racial discrimination. It is all to perpetuate the myth that sports are pure and free of the messiness of real life because the myth has made a great many people a great deal of money. Athletes recognise the game is rigged but the vast majority of them don’t dare speak out because retribution can be ruthless. Indian badminton star Jwala Gutta was hit with a life ban earlier this year just for protesting a sudden and random changing of the rules during the Indian Badminton League. As in any dictatorship, public dissent and questioning of authority cannot be tolerated. Sure, Sarita could have pushed her case behind closed doors but it would have been hopeless and she knew it. She was left with nothing but the pain of her sacrifices and the broken shards of her hopes and dreams. [caption id=“attachment_1739835” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sarita Devi cries as she steps on the podium for the medal ceremony at the Asian Games. AP[/caption] By her own account , Sarita was moved to speak out when she saw the Indian flag at the medal ceremony. Her actions were not premeditated, as in the case of Smith and Carlos. It was the last stand of a desperate fighter who found herself cornered and decided she could not, would not participate in the charade any longer. “When I went to the medal ceremony I broke down because I wanted to see the Indian national flag go up but when I saw it down, I couldn’t control myself,” Sarita told CNN-IBN. “It wasn’t my medal. I didn’t want to take the medal to India. I wanted to leave the sadness behind in South Korea.” It was no surprise that a few hours after the presentation ceremony, AIBA announced they were initiating disciplinary proceedings against Sarita. But in doing so they tipped their hand, revealing just what they are afraid of: “I had to request OCA to review this incident, so any boxer or athlete in other sports will not follow in her footsteps by respecting the spirit of fair-play and sportsmanship of the Olympic Movement,” David B Francis, the Technical Delegate, wrote in his report. If other athletes follow in Sarita’s footsteps, the whole house of cards could come tumbling down. By rejecting her medal in the most public way possible, Sarita has exposed the hypocrisy of sports bodies everywhere that demand respect for sportsmanship from the athletes without respecting it themselves. This isn’t the first time AIBA has been accused of corruption. Their history is littered with examples of fixed fights . And we can expect AIBA’s punishment of Sarita to be severe. They will want to send a strong message that such public outrage will not be tolerated to discourage others from following in Sarita’s footsteps. But as fans and lovers of sports, we ought to stand by Sarita and show her that we too won’t participate in this charade any longer. For unless that happens, Sarita’s brave act will likely be in vain. She, and all of us, deserve better.