There is a strong correlation between a healthy body/mind and a healthy nation. Australia as a sport loving nation encourages an outdoor lifestyle in the community to achieve a work-life balance and also connect physical and mental fitness with nature and sports. As a leader in international sport, Australian has shared its knowledge and experience in achieving excellence in sports, with Indian counterparts. It has provided training to Indian officials in sports administration, sports education, sports science and capacity building to several Indian sports departments, associations and federations. During his visit to Australia in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined Australia’s contribution and leadership in sports and recommended bolstering bilateral cooperation in sport.
As India develops its colossal sports ecosystem comprising A$350 million Khelo India Khelo initiative, National Sports University in Manipur, Olympic cell it can benefit from best practices in preserving integrity in sport from Australia, where sporting codes, regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies work in tandem to preserve integrity in sport. As India’s global footprint in sport expands it needs to constitute policy mechanisms and sport practices to keep sports clean.
IAIE’s Sports and Wellness initiative will not only promote research collaborations and practitioner’s exchanges in the field, but also deliver capacity building training programs to law enforcement agencies, regulators and sporting codes in both countries and host workshops and industry dialogues to enable knowledge exchange between Australia and India.
