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News18
25-05-2025
- Sport
- News18
Visas For Indian Athletes For Asian Athletics Championships In Gumi 'Sorted Out', Says AFI
Last Updated: 22 of the 59 athletes in the Indian contingent faced issues with their visa permits over various reasons. Twenty-two Indian athletes, who faced issues with their visas for the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea, had their travel permits sorted on Thursday and are on track to reach the venue of the spectacle slated to begin on the 27th of May. The Athletics Federation of India had named a 59-member contingent for the event in Gumi, with most of the star names across multiple disciplines set to feature. Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, however, will not be in action as the double Olympic medallist opted to focus on the Diamond League event in Tokyo in September. AFI Secretary General Sandeep Mehta stated that the efforts of the South Korean embassy was crucial in sorting out the clearences. 'We are getting the visas of the concerned athletes in the evening of Thursday through the efforts of the Sports Ministry and South Korean Embassy. The matter is sorted out," he stated. 22 of the 59 athletes in the Indian contingent faced issues with their visa permits over various reasons. However, with the clearance set to roll in, the unit is set to reach Gumi a couple of days ahead of the beginning of the event. 'The athletes will have two to three days of acclimatisation in Korea. We have picked the best team and we are expecting 25 to 30 medals this time," Mehta added. India managed to clinch a total of 27 medals including 6 gold, 12 silver, 9 bronze to finish third at the 2023 edition of the biennial event, behind table-toppers Japan and second-placed China, and the athletes representing the Indian tricolour at Gumi will eye a better haul this time out. The Indian men's 4x400m and 4x400m mixed teams, which failed to secure their berth at the World Championships through the World Athletics Relays earlier this month, will hope to give a solid account of themselves and earn qualification for the Worlds. 'We have also fielded teams in the men's and women's 4x100m and 4x400m relays, and we are hoping to qualify for the World Championships," Mehta concluded. First Published: May 22, 2025, 19:04 IST
Hans India
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Govt to stage Khelo India Northeast Games every year to harness region's potential
New Delhi: Identifying the Northeast as a powerhouse of sports talent, the Central Government, through the Sports Ministry, will start massive talent identification and promotion schemes, including organising annual multi-discipline sports competitions to help strengthen the sports ecosystem of the region. Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday said that the central government is fully committed to strengthening the sports ecosystem in the region through multiple initiatives, including hosting Khelo India Northeast Games in one of the 8 Northeast states every year. These states include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The Union Sports Minister announced this while addressing a large gathering during the Rising Northeast Investors Summit 2025 at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Saturday. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya said people knew Northeast as the region of India's first sunrise but in the 10 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, the Northeast is taking strong strides towards development. He said that Northeast is continuously contributing towards the development of 'Naya Bharat'. With the target of hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and the Summer Olympics in 2036, the Sports Minister said that a country as vast as India is a perfect place for organising international competitions throughout the year. Elaborating on this he said that currently, India is experiencing three seasons – monsoon in Southern India, snowfall in areas in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, and summer heat in Western India. According to him, India was the best choice for 'Play in India' like the 'Make in India' initiative by PM Modi. 'The way the Northeast is undergoing transformation, the sports goods industry and sports ecosystem are developing, the day is not far when the world will converge in the Northeast to play. Today, India's best athletes are coming from the Northeast. They are representing India in top international competitions and taking Indian sports forward. "In line with the Khelo India Youth Games and University Games, we will be staging the Khelo India Northeast Games here every year, which will not only help us scout talent and harness potential but also provide a platform to showcase our traditional games as well,' Dr Mandaviya said. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya said the sports infrastructure in the Northeast has increased exponentially, with 86 projects currently in use. Under the Khelo India scheme, Rs 439 crore was sanctioned in 2021 for 64 sports infrastructure projects across the Northeast region. These include synthetic turfs, multipurpose halls, swimming pools, and hostels. The Sports Minister said the region is home to 152 Khelo India Centres (KICs), which are training more than 8000 athletes, and 8 Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCEs) that are paving the way for a robust grassroots ecosystem. As of now, three National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs) in Guwahati, Itanagar, and Imphal are providing world-class training to 600 athletes. Giving an example of Khelo India's flagship scheme for women, the Sports Minister said that around 13,000 girls from the Northeast competed in the ASMITA League across various disciplines last year. This was enough proof of how the region is gradually becoming a good nursery of talent that will provide a strong bench strength for the national team later, the Ministry informed in a release on Saturday. Dr. Mandaviya also informed that the Government will be starting a massive talent identification drive across the sub-continent where anyone can shoot a video of a player's performance and send it to the Sports Ministry by uploading it on the National Sports Repository System (NSRS) portal. SAI will send talent scouts to the location of the event, and after assessing the performance of the athlete will induct him in either the Khelo India Centre or NCOE, depending on their potential. The Northeast region hosted the Khelo India University Games Ashtalakshmi in 2023. It was a landmark moment showcasing Northeast's capability to host large-scale national events in disciplines like athletics, football, boxing, and archery.
Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Top stars gear up for Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea
New Delhi: Some of India's top stars such as Jyothi Yarraji, Avinash Sable and Tejaswin Shankar would be in action at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea, starting next week. India will look to surpass its medal count of the previous edition. At the 2023 Asian meet in Bangkok, India returned with 27 medals that included six gold, 12 silver and nine bronze medals. 'This is the first big competition for our athletes after the Olympics and it will test our athletes,' said Athletics Federation of India secretary general Sandeep Mehta. 'We are expecting 25-30 medals this time.' 'We are hoping that our relay teams in men's and women's 4x100m and 4x400m to qualify for the World Championships,' the AFI secretary general said. The relay teams failed to qualify for the World Championships through the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China this month. Asked whether there was any addition to the relay team, Mehta said they are going with new faces in 4x400 men's team. 'Its the team that was selected and it will be an opportunity for them to get good exposure.' Mehta said the visa issues some athletes were facing, have been sorted. 'Thanks to the Sports Ministry and (South Korean) Embassy, the visa issues were sorted in the evening,' Mehta said. The first batch of athletes left from Delhi on Thursday. 'The athletes will have two to three days to acclimatise in Korea,' Mehta added. Gulveer Singh, who has broken 5000m and 10000m national records this season, said he is looking to qualify for the World Championship. 'I am hoping to qualify for the World Championships in 10000m in Korea. I have already achieved qualification in 5000m,' said Singh, who trains at Colorado Springs. The Asian Games medallist has a bronze in 5000m bronze from the last edition. He recently competed in his first Diamond League meet in Doha and finished 9th. 'It was a good experience. There has been no rest since last year. I am continuously training and competing. The body is feeling good and I am able to push myself in competitions. for lats few season under Scott Simons. In javelin, Sachin Yadav (84.39m) and Yashvir Singh (82.13m) will be hoping to make a mark.
Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Sports Ministry sets apart more funds to federations; demands accountability
National Sports Federations (NSFs) will receive increased financial assistance from the Sports Ministry, but will be required to be more accountable and install a more professional setup with appointment of High Performance directors and CEOs. As per the revised norms, the ministry has decided to hike the funds for national championships. For the high-priority sports, the funding has increased from Rs 51 lakh to Rs 90 lakh, and for other sports, it has increased to Rs 75 lakh. For the international events to be hosted by India, the assistance has been increased to Rs 2 crore. Hockey, shooting, badminton, tennis, athletics, boxing, archery, and weightlifting have been termed as high-priority sports. Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has cited inflation in training and infrastructure development as one of the reasons behind the increased financial assistance, along with India's ambition to project itself as a strong contender to host the 2036 Olympic Games. The ministry also increased the budgets for coaches and athletes. Chief national coaches across sports will have an increased salary of Rs 7.5 lakh per month as compared to Rs 5 lakh, while other coaches will get Rs 3 lakh monthly, up from their previous salary of Rs 2 lakh. Senior athletes will receive Rs 1000 per day as their dietary charges, as compared to Rs 690 earlier, while junior athletes will get Rs 850 per day for their diet as compared to Rs 480 earlier. As the funding would increase for the NSFs, the ministry has instructed to 'earmark at least 20 percent of the annual budget for grassroots development'. The ministry has asked the NSFs to identify a probable group of athletes in the senior and junior categories with high performance. The athletes will be trained at the accredited academies and will receive Rs 10,000 per month as dietary allowance during non-camp days, so that they are not deprived of a proper diet. The increased funding will be also used for coaches development with 10 percent of the funds to be allocated for coaches development program, which will also require the foreign professionals working in India to upgrade their skills through various training programs. Performance-driven system 'We want our NSFs to function as good governing bodies. There is a need for professionalism in the running of the NSFs,' Mandaviya told the reporters in an informal meeting on Thursday. 'As we aim to host the 2036 Olympics, it is important that we have a robust, accountable, and performance-driven sporting ecosystem,' he added further. The ministry has also made it mandatory for the NSFs to appoint a High Performance Director (HPD). The federations will be given an annual budget of Rs 10 crore to appoint the HPD and also ensure that there are the required CEOs and managers to run the high-performance setup. Recently, the Sports Ministry has ramped up scrutiny over the functioning of the NSFs. Three days earlier, the ministry issued mandatory guidelines regarding the organisation of the national championships for NSFs and National Games for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). 'While we don't want to interfere much on the running of NSFs, there needs to be hand-holding due to the chaos caused at times by the administrative battles,' a source from the ministry said.
News18
22-05-2025
- Business
- News18
Sports Ministry Boosts NSF Funding For Conduct Of National, International Events
The Ministry opted to allot an 80 per cent spike in the funding for national championships, from Rs 51 lakh to Rs 90 lakh, while international events have been allotted Rs 2 crore. National Sports Federations are set to receive increased funding from the Sports Ministry for the conduct of national and international events, but will need to professionalise their administration through High Performance Directors and CEOs. As per Thursday's revisions, the Sports Ministry has opted to allot an 80 per cent spike in the funding for national championships, from Rs 51 lakh to Rs 90 lakh. Financial assistance for international events held in India has been doubled to Rs 2 crore, providing greater flexibility. ALSO READ| 'Season And Situation Will Influence…': Garnacho's Man United Future In Doubt Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya explained during an informal media interaction that this revision considers India's ambition to host the 2036 Olympic Games and addresses 'increased costs due to inflation in training, infrastructure development, equipment procurement, and athlete welfare." Athletics, badminton, shooting, hockey, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling, archery, and boxing are the high priority categories that will benefit. For the priority category, the allocation has been increased to Rs 75 lakh. advetisement Hockey's Asia Cup and Junior World Cup are scheduled to be held in India later this year. Additionally, the ministry has decided to raise the salaries of chief national coaches across sports from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh per month. Other coaches will receive Rs 3 lakh monthly, up from the previous Rs 2 lakh per month. However, the higher funding comes with increased scrutiny. The NSFs must 'earmark at least 20% of their annual budget for grassroots development, channelled through affiliate units for junior/youth development." NSFs of High Priority and Priority disciplines must also identify probable top talent groups in both senior and junior categories. 'These athletes will be trained at accredited academies, selected by NSFs through a fair and transparent process. The training programs at these accredited academies for a particular sport will be monitored by the High Performance Director (HPD) of the respective sport," Mandaviya said. ALSO READ| Hockey India Names 24-Man Squad For European Leg Of FIH Pro League Probable athletes will receive a monthly Rs 10,000 dietary allowance when national camps are not operational. The ministry funds NSFs through the National Sports Development Fund. Mandaviya emphasized the need for greater professionalism in managing NSFs, stating that bodies with an annual budget of Rs 10 crore and above 'must mandatorily appoint a High Performance Director." 'We will also assist in ensuring that they can use 10% of the funding for the appointment of CEOs and managers," he said. 'These reforms aim to build a robust, accountable, and performance-driven sports ecosystem, aligning with India's long-term goal of becoming a global sporting powerhouse and eventual host of the 2036 Olympic Games," he added. The ministry's increased involvement in the day-to-day affairs of NSFs may cause some disquiet as it could be seen as government interference, which would be unacceptable to their international governing bodies. Advertisement top videos View All However, a ministry source revealed that it has been forced to play its hand due to the often chaotic manner in which NSFs have operated. 'It's all good to talk about autonomy when you have your house in order. But some hand-holding is needed when things are chaotic. Ultimately, the goal is that athletes should not suffer," the source said. Watch CNN-News18 here. News18 Sports brings you the latest updates, live commentary, and highlights from cricket, football, tennis, badmintion, wwe and more. Catch breaking news, live scores, and in-depth coverage. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : Mansukh Mandaviya National Sports Federations sports ministry Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: May 22, 2025, 20:04 IST News sports Sports Ministry Boosts NSF Funding For Conduct Of National, International Events
