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Business Standard
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Business Standard
Have 2026 Asiad Selection Plan Ready by Aug 29: Sports Secy to NSFs
Sports secretary Hari Ranjan Rao on Thursday urged National Sports Federations (NSFs) to finalise their selection mechanism for next year's Asian Games by August 29 to ensure a greater focus on preparations for the showpiece in Japan. Rao was addressing NSFs in the one-day 'Khelo Bharat Conclave' in the national capital where an action plan to take Indian sports forward is being discussed by various stakeholders, including sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, representatives of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and corporate houses, and prominent former athletes. "Let's have a selection plan for the Asian Games by August 29, which is also the National Sports Day (and the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand). If we do that, we will have one entire year to prepare ourselves," Rao, who is also the Director General of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), told the gathering. The Asian Games is scheduled to be held from September 19 to October 4 next year in Aichi-Nagoya. India would be aiming to better their best performance of 106 medals, including 28 gold, that was achieved in the previous edition in Hangzhou, China. Rao's suggestion to the NSFs comes months after the Sports Ministry laid down strict guidelines on selection processes for quadrennial showpieces and the world and continental championships. The ministry has asked NSFs to publicise the selection criteria for showpieces such as the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games, Para Asian Games and Commonwealth Games at least two years in advance. However, as is clear from Rao's statement, the plan is still a work in progress for next year's showpiece. The directives also make it mandatory for NSFs to upload selection policies on their respective websites and amend them only if there is a three-month window before a competition. It has also been made compulsory to videograph selection trials. Standardisation of the selection criteria has been a long-standing demand in sports like shooting where renowned pistol coach Jaspal Rana has stated that policies which are not codified in advance negatively impact athletes. Get Online Rao, who was formerly an additional secretary to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), also called on the NSFs to digitise their Annual Calendar of Training and Competition (ACTC) and upload them on the National Sports Repository System in the next couple of months. "I request cooperation from everyone, let's go online by October 1. Let's get rid of this offline ACTC documentation," he said. Rao also revealed that three task forces, as mandated by the recently-released Khelo Bharat Niti, are in the works. "The three task forces would be entrusted with the responsibility of improving the quality of coaches, create a good pool of administrators and make India a sports manufacturing hub. These task forces would be constituted soon," he said. Also, the two labs for at the National Forensic Sciences University in Ahmedabad are now operational and testing supplements for possible presence of banned substances to ensure that athletes are saved from ingesting anything that is prohibited. "Our athletes, a lot of times, take supplements which are contaminated. They are not aware, and these labs will go a long way in saving them," Rao said. Good Governance With the National Sports Governance Bill, which emphasises on accountability of administrators set to be introduced in the Parliament next week, Rao said it is the right time for the NSFs to act. "I say on the upcoming National Sports Day, take a vow to announce three good governance measures in your NSF. It will reflect a commitment," he said.
Time of India
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
India's 2036 Olympic dream: IOC pauses bidding process to figure out 'appropriate' time to elect host
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A decision on India's bid for the 2036 Olympics is set to take longer than expected as the International Olympic Committee 's new President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday announced a "pause" on the entire process and set up a working group to figure out the "appropriate time" to identify a future an online press conference after taking over as the first woman and the first African President of the IOC, the former Olympic champion swimmer said the consensus among the members was to reassess the process. Earlier, a decision on the bid was expected next year."There was an overwhelming support from the IOC members for a pause to be done and a review of the future host election process and we will be setting up a working group to look into this," the 41-year-old Zimbabwean said after chairing her maiden executive board meeting in Lausanne."(This is) for two main reasons. Firstly, members want to be engaged more in the process and secondly there was a very big discussion on when should the next host be awarded," he added in her opening remarks after the two-day said the executive board members felt that the experience of already decided future hosts -- Los Angles (2028 Summer Games), Brisbane (2032 Summer Games), French Alps (2030 Winter Games) -- need to be studied before proceeding on future proposals."So there was a lot of discussion on when is the appropriate time to elect a future host. And also how we should be selecting a future host," she added referring to the relatively shorter "lead-up time" that French Alps got due to awarding of the rights only last submitted a Letter of Intent to host the 2036 Games in October last year. A delegation, comprising high-ranking officials led by Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao, is scheduled to be in Lausanne for informal talks on the issue next said that visit will proceed as scheduled."We want all interested parties to be a part of this pause and reflect and of this review. I am aware of the delegation coming next weekend that will continue. They might be the first interested party for us to ask a couple of questions and to better understand from them."There is not going to be a specific pause on that but just on the entire process," she said."We need to ensure that we have more membership engagement and also look at the timing. When is the most appropriate time, when is the best time, when is the most effective time (to decide an Olympic host)."What is the most effective way we are not going to overburden any of the stakeholders," she however, acknowledged that the global south (comprising Africa, the subcontinent and parts of Latin America) has been under-represented in the Olympic host movement."I think the Global South, in terms of host cities, is not really represented at all. But my job is to ensure that policies are in place to allow anyone who has the ability to host the Games," she said.
