The Field Weekly

Topic Hub

Sports Governance

How Indian sports federations make decisions, and what those decisions cost the athletes who have to live with them — selection disputes, infrastructure investment, and the politics of hosting.

What we track

  • · Federation governance and selection disputes
  • · Infrastructure investment
  • · Hosting strategy and sporting diplomacy
An illustration of Manika Batra playing a forehand at a table tennis table while a row of federation officials look on disapprovingly with clipboards

table-tennis

The Tyranny of the Grid: When Bureaucratic Compliance Clashes with Global Excellence

The Table Tennis Federation of India's decision to bench Manika Batra for skipping domestic tournaments is a case study in federations punishing athletes for outgrowing them.

No. 3 of 10 · Aditya Krishnan

An Indian footballer standing isolated inside a glass box on the pitch during a match, with an architect's blueprint of the same scene on a drafting table beside a stadium construction site

football

Forced Genesis: The Artificial Incubation of the Domestic Attacker

The AIFF's mandate that every ISL club field an Indian striker for all 90 minutes is a deliberate, controversial bet that protectionism can manufacture the instinct the transfer market never will.

No. 4 of 10 · Ananya Pillai

Indian women's hockey players celebrating with the FIH Nations Cup trophy raised aloft, with the Indian flag rippling behind them

hockey

The Architecture of Resilience: Escaping the Purgatory of the Second Tier

India's unbeaten run to the FIH Hockey Nations Cup title was a deliberate rejection of the complacency that usually traps relegated teams — and the price of admission back to the Pro League.

No. 6 of 10 · Aditya Krishnan

The Indian junior men's gymnastics team and coaching staff posing together in red and white tracksuits after winning medals in Zunyi, China

gymnastics

The Grammar of Flight: Defying Gravity in a System Without Nets

A gold-silver vault sweep in Zunyi shows what Indian gymnastics can achieve on raw talent alone — and how little margin remains once the senior ranks demand it without infrastructure to match.

No. 9 of 10 · Aditya Krishnan

Two fencers lunging at each other on a piste in New Delhi, with India Gate, European architecture, and a Chinese pagoda illustrated in the background

fencing

The Borrowed Blade: Sporting Statecraft and the Architecture of Belonging

Hosting the Asian Fencing Championships in Delhi won India no medals — but it bought entry into a closed, aristocratic sport that has never had to take the country seriously before.

No. 10 of 10 · Aditya Krishnan

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