Football Performance

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said that the Government of India has considered the proposal of All India Football Federation (AIFF) and supported their bid to host Under-17 FIFA World Cup in India in 2017. AIFF have informed that six venues have been finalised in consultation with FIFA technical team and the venues are to be upgraded to be compliant with FIFA requirements. The venues are not yet compliant to FIFA standards and the infrastructure requirement for different venues has been indicated by FIFA to the venue owners. Based on this, the estimates for each venue have been finalised by the venue owners. To monitor the progress of work in order to make the venues ready well before the event, the organiser of the event namely, AIFF has constituted Local Organising Committees at various levels consisting of officials from State Governments, FIFA, AIFF, etc. All venues are to be ready well before the date of the tournament in 2017 to be decided by FIFA in consultation with AIFF etc.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today shri Sonowal said that Rs.95.00 crore was approved by the Cabinet in 2013 as assistance to upgradation of the venues and the associated infrastructure. In addition, Cabinet has approved Rs.25 crores to be used as contingency for the opening and closing ceremonies, in case the AIFF is not able to raise the amount through sponsorship, to meet the requirements prescribed by FIFA for hosting such tournaments.

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Foreign Support in Sports

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said that an Expression of Intent between Sports Authority of India (SAI), Athletic Federation of India (AFI) and International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) has been signed on 6.10.2015 for establishment of a High Performance Academy, called “The SAI-AFI-IAAF High Performance Academy (SAIHPA)” in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex, New Delhi. The Academy will have a profession environment and approach to Athletics/Track & Field events with the following objectives:-

· To provide excellent coaching, integrated support services, education and great experience for Athletes.

· Create an environment in which youth/junior potential elite Athletes can grow with the SAIHPA helping to shape their careers by building them into the best athletes and champion performers.

· Establish an extremely focused and professional atmosphere – which will stay with the Athletes ‘mind set’ and permeate into their future athletics and career life style.

· Build the Athletes mental skills, confidence, focus and determination that will enable these Athletes reach their goals and compete at their best every day, and

Assist the Athletes to develop their skills to be effective leaders, including leadership qualities, communication skills, character building and accountability.

He said, Department of Sports has not been approached by any British Company for skill development initiatives in India in the field of sports. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today shri Sonowal said that under the Scheme of Human Resource Development in Sports (HRDS), the Ministry encourages professionals in the field of sports to exchange ideas and enhance knowledge and skills through participation in Seminars, Workshops and Conferences overseas and provide support for such seminars, workshops and conferences in the country. Also under NSDF, selected sportspersons are being sent abroad for coaching and improving their skill.

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Constitution of AICS

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs& Sports, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said that Government of India has constituted All India Council of Sports (AICS) headed by Prof V.K. Malhotra as its President in the rank of Minister of State. Its members include eminent sportspersons and coaches like Shri Sachin Tendulkar, Smt. P.T. Usha, Shri Limba Ram, Ms. N. Kunjarani Devi, Shri I.M. Vijayan, Shri P. Gopichand, Shri Baichung Bhutia and Shri Vishwanathan Anand. The salient aims & objectives of the Council are as follows:

· popularising sports amongst youth as a way of life;

· increasing outreach of sports to rural and tribal areas, and areas affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), North East and Jammu & Kashmir;

· matters relating to promotion of inclusiveness in sports with special focus on women, differently-abled, tribals, etc.;

· preventing drug abuse in sports, fraud of age and sexual harassment of women in sports;

· early identification of sports talent and nurturing of the identified talent; and

· Integration of sports in educational curriculum in schools, colleges and universities.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today the Minister said, the Council may meet from time to time, at least once in a quarter, and deliberate on matters relating to the promotion and development of sports and games in the country. He said, It is up to the President of the Council to call its meetings.