Those punished in sport must have avenues to comeback

COMMENT

by Ravi Nagahawatte

The Sri Lanka Badminton Federation (SLBF) must be commended for taking stern disciplinary action against Sri Lanka’s number one male badminton player Niluka Karunaratne for misbehaving at the recently held Badminton Tournament in Kurunegala.

Top sportsmen and women are hard to control, given that the energies within are always trying to bubble to the surface. They always look for avenues to discharge these energies. Most expel their energies within the boundaries of sport. For some individuals who don’t value discipline, these energies, which can cause an ‘explosion’ within, can really land you in trouble.

Karunaratne (the eldest of three badminton playing brothers), is reported to have taunted a senior female player who was playing on another court and then allegedly assaulted the female player’s brother, who had come to his sibling’s aid.

This incident has to be viewed from many aspects because this act of shame also gives us the opportunity to learn a few lessons.

Remember, Niluka is not a novice and taunting a competitor amounts to bringing the game into disrepute. He was also a competitor at the same tournament and it was unjust to mentally torment a player, for whatever reasons.

In cricket, where sledging was once at its best, players are now meek as lambs. Cricketers don’t sledge anymore because the ICC players’ code specifies that they adopt a zero tolerance when it comes to verbally abusing players.

Badminton rules too are strict and it’s an offence if a player clinches his or her fist and aims it at the opponent in a threatening manner when celebrating a point. What the authorities couldn’t check for some time was the indiscipline in badminton players and the present set of badminton administrators have shown in no uncertain terms that those who don’t behave have no place in the sport.

The second point to ponder on this issue is why such a senior player in Niluka can’t maintain cordial relationship with other players. Niluka and the female player we are referring to, Chandrika de Silva, have time and again been part of the same contingent which represented Sri Lanka at international competitions.

It’s shocking that there is no camaraderie among these senior players. What is the example senior players like Niluka will set for the horde of junior players who were watching this incident?

The initial harsh punishment of suspending the offender is good given the fact that the authorities also have a backup plan to ‘rehab’ this player. It’s not very correct for the badminton authorities to suspend a player and then forget him.

In rugby we have a method where players who serve bans for abusing referees are taken into officiating at matches. This allows the player suspended to see what he did wrong from the perspective of a referee. Many rugby players have cherished this system and have made comebacks as players.

A renowned fitness trainer in the country once told this writer that some uppity players in the badminton scene were not bad after all. He said that if players are approached tactfully and with respect they’d be very easy to control. He showed me how it’s done. It was amazing to see the little methods he used, whether it was to drive in a point or get their cooperation. He used very kind words and made the players look important. The players were soon ‘eating off his hand’.

You need to maintain discipline, but at the same time you have to know not to destroy the self-respect within the players when punishment is handed out. There is no sport without players and players need to have a system of being able to comeback after finishing their course of punishment.

The badminton fraternity sincerely hopes Niluka will not continue to be a victim of brash sports administration. Niluka will be ‘clean’ after serving his punishment and should be allowed to return to the sport for which he has sacrificed so much. There is an old saying, ‘there are so many ways to skin a cat’.

At this juncture it would be terrible if Niluka is not punished. It would be worse if the player goes into a shell and fades away. The SLBF has created a new problem by solving an existing problem.

Now they have to see to the ‘bringing up of Niluka’ from a sports administrator’s point of view. This is an era where even former terrorists are pardoned given the best of perks. The badminton fraternity is watching!

(www.island.lk)