'Don't deviate from athlete centric approach': Mandaviya to NSFs

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday issued a clear directive to National Sports Federations, stressing that there will be no room for deviation from an "athlete-centric" approach.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

Urging them to put an end to factionalism and nepotism, Mandaviya emphasised that unity and transparency within the federations are crucial for the success of India's bid to host the 2036 Olympics.

Addressing representatives from 40 NSFs at an elaborate ceremony marking the launch of hassle-free record-keeping in Digilocker, a cloud-based platform for storage, easy sharing and verification of documents and certificates, the minister asked the federations to get their houses in order.

"I don't like to interfere in NSFs but it doesn't mean that they are allowed to deviate from the athlete-centric approach of the government," Mandaviya said during the event, which was also attended by some athletes, including Tokyo Olympics silver-winning weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and hockey player Jarmanpreet Singh among others.

"I have spoken to various factions in different federations and I have told them to work on it and ensure that athletes don't suffer. You have to serve the athletes and they suffer when there is factionalism. I will not allow that. NSFs have to be responsible."

His remarks were, in all likelihood, targeted at the power-tussle in NSFs of sports like boxing, football, wrestling and equestrian which has kept the interest of athletes in the backfoot.