Minister to hold brainstorming session for LA28 Olympics

New Delhi: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said the government will be holding a brainstorming session inviting a large group of stakeholders in Hyderabad from March 7-9 to devise a strategy for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Mandaviya said sports ministers of every state and union territories will be part of the meeting.

“We need to make a strategy keeping in mind the 2028 Olympics and for that we are holding a brainstorming session at Kanha Shanti Vanam in Hyderabad from March 7-9. We are calling state sports ministers, sport secretaries, members of state Olympic associations, IOA members, National Sports Federations representatives, experts and sports personalities,” Mandaviya said.

This is a first-of-its-kind initiative by the Sports Ministry with the objective of charting out a robust roadmap to improve India’s performance at the Olympics. India won six medals — one silver and five bronze — at the Paris Olympics. In six events, India finished fourth, narrowly missing the podium.

With India also keen on getting the hosting rights for the 2036 Olympics, the Sports Ministry is looking to create a holistic development plan, identifying areas that need to be strengthened and setting immediate priorities.

One such area identified is the dearth of coaches and trainers at home. Mandaviya said a special ‘Capacity Building Course’ is being planned for sportspersons employed with central government and central public sector companies to bring them into coaching.

“There is a crisis of quality home-grown coaches, trainers and referees. We need to bridge the gap. The athletes who are working in various government departments can take up this special six-week course and they can then be put in different fields in sports. We will write to various Ministries and departments to give us a list of elite athletes working with them and who would be interested to enrol,” said Mandaviya.

“The government is paying their salaries, so why not utilise our sportspersons in sports-related activities. These elite athletes would also like to contribute to sports. Some of the good coaches who emerge from this system will be sent for foreign exposure,” he said.

Some criteria have been set for the programme. Medallists or participants at the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, besides medal winners of Youth Olympics, Junior World Championships, World University Games, senior National Championship and National Games can take up the course designed by Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala. The minimum educational qualification is graduation or equivalent from any recognised University.

The course consists of four certification levels — foundation, pre-intermediate, intermediate and advanced certificate. Candidates need to complete each level within two years while working with flexible learning modes of online and offline.