The Hindu : Sport : Boost to qualified sportspersons

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Thursday, Jun 12, 2008
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Boost to qualified sportspersons

NEW DELHI: In a boost to those sportspersons who have qualified for the Olympics, the joint fund of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) cleared proposals from various federations for supporting their qualified sportspersons in the run-up to the Beijing Games on Wednesday.

The federations having qualified sportspersons were asked to come up with their proposals and they were approved at a meeting chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The proposals ranged from sports gear for shooters and swimmers to special oars for the rowers, punch-measuring machine for the boxers and training-cum-competition programme for all the qualified sportspersons.

Representatives from the archery, athletics, boxing, judo, rowing, shooting swimming, weightlifting and wrestling attended Wednesday’s meeting. Its Chief Administrative Officer, Ratnakar Shetty, represented the BCCI, while Government observers in various sports as well as NSDF members also attended the meeting.

Federations in picture

The BCCI, though it initially wanted funds to be given directly to the athletes has agreed to the federations being brought into the picture since individual sportsmen might not be able to arrange much, in terms of equipment and training, even if funds were made available.

The Sports Ministry has made it clear that nutritional supplements would be the responsibility of the federations since they deal with anti-doping matters and have to follow WADA guidelines. “Our sanctioning of funds for supplements will not mean that we are approving a certain type of supplements,” said the Joint Secretary, I. Srinivas.

The NSDF was started in 1998 with the Government contributing a ‘seed money’ of Rs 2 crore. The joint venture of the BCCI and the NSDF is specifically geared towards supporting Olympic probables.

The BCCI has so far promised Rs. 25 crores for a three-year period, out of which Rs. 15 crore has already been paid. The Government will have to match the BCCI funding. It has already contributed Rs. 5 crore.

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