History of Sports in the Madives

International sports began about a century ago in the Maldives. According to historical sources cricket was the first international sport played in the Maldives followed closely by football. Organized sport began in the 1940s with the first national football tournament held in 1948. Shortly an administrative office to coordinate the sports events in Male’ (the capital island) was created in 1950. During this period additional sports like tennis, volleyball, basketball, athletics and table tennis were gradually introduced. 

Bashi is an ancient game played only in the Maldives and is the most popular sports played by women . It was traditionally played with a hand-woven bashi (made from coconut palm leaves) by two teams of about 11 women.

During the time of the country’s first President, Mohamed Amin Didi,  a modernised version of the sport by using a tennis ball instead of the hand-woven ball was introduced . Later the coconut tree wooden bat was replaced with a tennis racket and now the sport is a favorite throughout the country.

From the very early days, sport governance and administration was centrally controlled. In 1977, the first office specifically created for this purpose was formed.

In 1983 a consultative body was formed to advise the government and in 1988 the Ministry of Home Affairs and Sports was established with a new focus on making sport an integral part of national development. The sport portfolio has been assigned to different Government ministries since then, but the focus has been on providing administrative and governance support to sports development.

The first national sport association was registered in 1981. Since then national associations have played a significant role in the development of sport in the Maldives. The National Olympic Committee formed in 1979 is a key partner in the development of sports in the Maldives. The Olympic Committee has helped in raising Maldives sports profile internationally by facilitating Maldives to participate in international sporting events and competitions. The Maldives was first represented internationally by a table tennis team, which visited China in 1973.

The first major international competition that Maldives participated was the Indian Ocean Games of 1979 held in Reunion in which the country received its first international award; a silver medal in badminton. Football is the most popular and widely played sport in the Maldives, and the sport which has brought the most accolades to the country. The Maldivian football team has won silver medals in the SAF Games held in 1991, and in the South Asian Championship held in 1997. In 2008, Maldives beat India to win a gold medal in the same competition.

From year 2000 sport related training and education has been under the responsibility of the Youth and Sports Development Centre (YSDC).  The idea of establishing a more comprehensive institute to cater for the need of developing sports in the country was announced by the President’s Office in 2011. In 27^th February 2012 Maldives National Institute of sports officially came to existence.