India’s growing dependence on foreign coaches has again come to the fore. In its bid to boost India’s medal chances at the Olympics, the government has engaged 47 foreign experts across disciplines to guide the country’s athletes to podium finishes at the Paris Games in 2024.
The number of such experts currently associated with Indian sports is the highest-ever. Among them, athletics has the maximum engagement with a total of seven foreign coaches, two physiotherapists and one recovery expert hired at a cumulative salary of £1.3 million annually among the high-priority and priority sports.
It’s followed by hockey where the services of chief coaches Craig Fulton (men’s team) and Janneke Schopman (women’s), five assistant coaches and two scientific advisors for both the senior and junior teams have been earmarked at £690,000 per annum. Incidentally, Fulton is the highest paid among the foreign coaches at a monthly salary of $18,724.
The senior men’s hockey team has Fulton, Alan Tan and Rhett Kennedy as coaches and Patrick Upton as mental trainer, while the women’s team has Schopman, Taren Naidoo and Anthony Farry as coaches, with Peter Harberi working as mental trainer.
In shooting, the government is spending £540,000 annually to cover the salaries and other expenses of a high-performance director (HPD), a high-performance manager and four foreign coaches.