Indian Army Sports Team Being Disbanded

A player who recently received orders from his superiors to focus more on being a soldier than an athlete claims that almost all sports teams from regiments will be disbanded due to the shortage of personnel. It has been reported that only the Army Red team, which is the top team in each sport at the central level, will receive preference, and even the Army Green team, the second-tier team, may be disbanded. Teams in regiments such as MEG, ASC, and CMP will also reportedly be disbanded due to the perception that too much energy and manpower are being spent on athletes at these centres.

The Agnipath Scheme was introduced in September 2022 for recruitment below the rank of commissioned officers. Recruits will be on contract for a period of four years, and extensions will only be given to up to 25 per cent of recruits who perform exceptionally during their stint. The same principles are likely to be used to grade new athletes entering the force. The scheme will not affect athletes recruited before September 2022, but they will be removed from their teams if they fail during trials. This means that those recruited on sports quota must perform the role of a soldier if they come up short in trials, while new recruits under the Agnipath Scheme who excel as both soldiers and athletes will be inducted into the Army Red team.

According to a Physical Training Officer who wished to remain anonymous, athletes who are already recruited will have to play less because they have other duties to fulfil, and they will have to fight for their spots on the main army team. In the past, there were many teams, and it was easy to continue life as a soldier-athlete. However, this is no longer the case, and only the best soldier-athletes will get to play for the main army team.

The Army Sports Control Board (ASCB) will conduct annual trials to identify the best talent and keep the Army Red team well-stocked with top performers, while the rest focus on their daily duties as soldiers. New recruits, called Agniveers, will have four years to prove themselves. If they fail to fall within the top 25 per cent grade as both a soldier and an athlete, they will lose their role in the Army.

Players on the Army Red team will only participate in tournaments across the country if they have the time. One player said that they will not have as many privileges as they used to, but they are there to be soldiers first and athletes later. According to the same player, the recruitment process will change over the next few years, with an emphasis on selecting quality talent instead of grooming young athletes. Coaches have confirmed this shift, saying that they cannot afford to groom international-level players due to the short contract periods.

The sources claim that one of the reasons for disbanding teams is that regiments had too many recruits whose primary role had become sports. However, the army adopted a similar stance in the late 1970s, and interest in sports and the quality of athletes in the forces dwindled by the early 2000s. To counter this trend, the Army established the Army Sports Institute and revived the Boys Sports Company Scheme under 'Mission Olympics' in 2001. Since then, athletes from the armed forces have become household names in India, with many winning at the Olympic level, including Neeraj Chopra.