Delhi Chief Minister and Convenor of Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) Arvind Kejriwal on Monday pointed at the pathetic state of sports administration in the country as the main reason for India's failure to perform at international sports events like Olympics.
At a meeting held with AAP volunteers which was attended by a number of sportspersons and other stakeholders on Monday as part of his Goa dialogue during his three-day visit to this State, he said the AAP government in Delhi was preparing to set up a Sports University where serious athletes and sportspersons would be able to simultaneously pursue and complete their academic qualifications while pursuing their sports careers.
Mr. Kejriwal listed some of the steps taken by the AAP government in Delhi for sports, such as throwing open stadiums as well as government school playgrounds for use of public, to encourage the culture of sports in the city.
The volunteers requested that a multi-tier sports policy be drawn up to have appropriate focus on various levels of sports, such as general public, serious enthusiasts, and national and international professional athletes.
Mr. Kejriwal promised to remove corruption and red-tape to improve the situation in Goa’s sports arena if AAP comes to power.
Volunteers lamented the dismal lack of focus on sports in general by successive governments in Goa. They alleged that the field of Sports had got a raw deal from the political establishment which is seen to be using sports funds, infrastructure and administration only for their political convenience.
Many of them, especially parents of young achievers in area such as chess, windsurfing, etc., expressed disappointed that not only is sports not given the required priority, even serious sportspersons who use their own funds and resources to develop their skills and excel at national and international levels are not encouraged and supported as they should.
The Goa Cricket Association scam was discussed and the quick action in the DDCA scam by the AAP government was appreciated by the Goa volunteers, who said that contrary to that criminal cases in GCA such as “ODI Ticketgate scam” are still pending for many years.
The various stadia constructed at huge cost for the Lusofonia Games are still not available to Goan youth and sportspersons for use, and such infrastructure is kept only for commercial exhibitions or for political events such as Amit Shah meeting held recently, alleged some ex-sport persons.
