Govt. committed to create world-class sports ecosystem for athletes — Rijiju

New Delhi, Oct. 9 (IANS): Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has stated that the government is committed to provide a sports ecosystem of global standards for athletes.

Rijiju made these comments during the 53rd Governing Body Meeting of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) held on Thursday. A number of key decisions were taken by the committee.

It was decided by the committee that to provide additional impetus to the preparation of Olympics 2024 and 2028, some of the country’s best training centres will be notified as Target Olympic Podium Scheme National Centre of Excellence (TOPS NCOE).

The centers will be operated in collaboration with national sporting federations. Both SAI and non-SAI sporting facilities across the country will be earmarked as TOPS NCEOs, depending on the existing facilities and performance of athletes at those centers.

Speaking about this, the Sports Minister said the TOPS NCEOs will have state-of-art infrastructure, best-in-class coaches and support staff as well as modern sports science support.

Rijiju also announced that talent scouting committees, consisting of top ex-athletes, coaches and experts are being formed and will begin the task of identifying sporting talent in various disciplines from across the country within the next four-five months, once the Covid-19 situation improves.

Various other decisions taken during the meeting included creation of new sports infrastructure projects and upgradation of existing infrastructure projects at various National Center of Excellence to the tune of INR 120 crores.

A policy has also been put in place to provide out of turn promotion of coaches employed in SAI based on their performance in various national and international events.

The meeting was attended by members and various stakeholders, including Indian Olympic Association Secretary Rajeev Mehta, former table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta, badminton player and Dhyan Chand awardee Trupti Murgunde, hockey player and Arjuna Awardee Deepak Thakur, Wushu World Championships silver medallist Yumnam Sanathoi Devi and boxer Akhil Kumar.

On Wednesday, Rijiju had taken a review meeting regarding India’s preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, which were slated to be held this year but had to be postponed to 2021 following the outbreak of novel coronavirus.