BCCI may adopt Olympic disciplines in future
CHENNAI: In what could be a first, the Indian cricket (BCCI) board might start providing continuous support for shaping up Indian athletes across a spectrum of Olympic disciplines. This discussion apparently transpired during a meeting between the sports ministry and over 50 corporate houses on Thursday.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI), represented by Rajeev Shukla, has shown an interest to join hands with the sports ministry to promote or adopt a couple Olympic disciplines. According to sports ministry sources, the BCCI is keen on providing whatever help they can extend. The help is likely to include monetary benefits to two or three Olympic disciplines.
Earlier, the BCCI had given money to the National Sports Development Fund or to Olympics medalists but if this transpires, the world’s richest cricket body might extend long-term support to Olympic disciplines. “The BCCI was keen and they are looking at ways to implement it,” said an official.
Project OTC in focus
The meeting, chaired by sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, discussed ways to establish state-of-the-art Olympic Training Centre for priority sports in the country. The idea is to bring all top (both Target Olympic Podium Scheme and other elite) athletes, coaches and budding athletes under one umbrella. The vision is to be inside the top-10 of the medals tally at the 2036 Olympic Games for which India have already started the bidding process. The age group under focus would be aligned to 2028–2036 Olympic cycles. The meeting was attended by minister of state (sports) Raksha Khadse, newly-appointed sports secretary Hari Ranjan Rao, joint secretary Shobhit Jain and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) TOPS, NS Johal.
According to a presentation made during the meeting, the objective would be to have a tripartite agreement between the government (sports ministry or state government), National Sports Federations (NSFs) and the corporate houses. This would ensure a dedicated flow of funds, effective management, accountability and transparency.
The sports ministry had been envisioning this project for a while and could see fruition soon because they are looking at upgrading existing centres, whether owned by centre, state or private parties, instead of creating one.
The dedicated institutional structure would focus on sports excellence. This in turn would help in “improving capacity and effectiveness of NSFs” and also collaborate with states. If some states are running any programme, the support can go to the state as well.
The sports ministry would provide policy support, infrastructure and public funding, while the corporate houses would fund and share managerial expertise. The governance and athlete management will be with the NSFs. Interestingly, the feeder line could be through Khelo India and National Games. The NSFs on the other hand would be helping in scouting and providing coaches. Apart from these, talent identification can be done through national and international competitions as well. Each centre should be able to hold at least 200 athletes and if need be, the number can go up to 300.
OCI to represent India?
The sports ministry had reportedly discussed the possibility of allowing Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) to represent India at global events. There have been requests from All India Football Federation (AIFF) to allow them to include OCIs in the India team. However, it needs to be seen if this can legally be implemented because of India’s Citizenship Act that prohibits dual citizenship. Also, the sports ministry had notified that only Indian players with Indian passports are eligible to represent the country.
The Indian Express