No one should have Nidha's fate again

The death of Nidha Fathima, a ten-year-old girl from Alappuzha, who reached Nagpur to compete in the National Cycle Polo Championship, is an incident that has shocked and saddened the entire sports field.

Nidha was a member of the Kerala sub-junior cycle polo team who reached Nagpur with the order of the Kerala High Court and a letter from the state sports council. However, the National Cycle Polo Federation, the organizers of the competition, was not ready to provide accommodation or food to them. With this, the children had to shift to a temporary accommodation. Nidha fell ill at night and was taken to the hospital the next morning. She died after her condition worsened soon after an injection was given.

The reason for her tragic death was the negligence of the National Cycle Polo Federation which did not provide accommodation or food despite taking Rs 50,000 as participation fee from the Kerala team. Children including Nidha were forced to look for temporary accommodation on the grounds that there was no court order to provide accommodation and food. The dispute between the National Cycle Polo Federation and the Kerala Cycle Polo Association worried the children. The national federation had cancelled the recognition of the Kerala Cycle Polo Association for questioning their misdeeds a few years ago and Nidha is the latest victim of the vendettas between them.

The Kerala Cycle Polo Association had protested against the defeat of the Kerala team by poor umpiring in a national championship. To retaliate, the national federation cancelled the recognition of the present Kerala Association and approved another association. The old association sued against this for years and won a favourable verdict. The council gave approval to this association after considering the court order. However, they have not been recognized by the national federation.

There are two associations for cycle polo in Kerala. Only one of these is recognized by the national federation, but this association is not recognized either by the state government or the sports council. The association recognized by the sports council is not recognized by the federation. This tug-of-war creates the situation for two teams to represent Kerala in the national championships. While one faction is competing as the Kerala team with the support of the national federation, the other faction is approaching the court seeking permission to participate. The national federation is just allowing them to participate in name, who come with the court order. Should put an end to this kind of discrimination against athletes. In most sports items in Kerala, there are two and three associations and there are also disputes between them.

Many great sportspersons have lost their chance in the fight for the seat of power. Now the life of a child player who was supposed to win so many medals in the future. Even if cycle polo is not an Olympic event, P T Usha, the head of the Indian Olympic Association, should intervene in the matter. A strong sports law should be introduced to end the fight in the sports field. A transparent investigation is needed to know what happened to Nidha in the hospital.