BOA, India's oldest Olympic body deserves better: New Prez

Chandan Roy Chowdhury, the newly elected president of Bengal Olympic Association (BOA), is quite aware of the enormity of the job on his hands.

- GAUTAM BHATTACHARYYA

KOLKATA: While his immediate goal is to resume the State Games early next year after a fairly long gap, the ultimate vision is to make the BOA a vibrant umbrella body again with a level-playing field for all the Olympic disciplines.

Less than two weeks back, Roy Chowdhury - a popular sports administrator in Kolkata - made headlines when he upset the applecart of incumbent Swapan 'Babun' Banerjee, the younger brother of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Representing the West Bengal Weightlifting Association, the former journalist beat Banerjee by 25 votes but feels it's time to shake off the euphoria and carry on with the mission of a shake-up in the sports infrastructure of the state.

“There is a lot of work to be done to revive the culture of Olympic disciplines in my tenure of four years. However, our first target is to strive for Bengal putting up an improved show in the National Games (early next year in Uttarakhand) than last time and also stage our State Games after a long gap,” remarked Roy Chowdhury.