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The Indian Olympic Association has taken a major decision to reward all medal winners at this year’s National Games with cash prizes worth lakhs of rupees.
With Kerala set to host the 35th annual event, the organising committee has been instructed by the IOA to set aside a total cash reward of 50 crores to compensate all the medal winners in the competition which will be the first time ever in India’s sporting history.
The amount will be divided between the gold,silver and bronze medalists, with a each receiving a handsome prize of 25, 17 and 12.5 lakhs respectively after the organising board agreed to the proposal.
Last month, an executive committee meeting was scheduled between the newly-elected office-bearers in the capital, where the proposal of cash rewards was discussed along with several other matters.
Rajeev Mehta, secretary general of the IOA, has indicated that the monetary prizes will not only be “restricted to the medal winners”.
“Even those athletes who finish inside the top five will be rewarded. The IOA has asked the Kerala National Games Organising Committee to set aside a pool of Rs 50 crore for medal winners. This has been done to encourage our athletes,” he said.
Prior to this, the concept of cash prizes were reserved for the athletes in prominent events like the Asian and Commonwealth Games with the gold medal winners collecting Rs 20 lakhs, silver getting Rs 10 lakhs and the Bronze winner bagging Rs 6 lakhs.
Mehta also revealed that another significant decision was taken in regards to entry obtaining matters.
“The IOA has made it mandatory for the National Games Organising Committee to accept entries in only those sporting disciplines which have been recognised by the IOA,” he said.
Mehta also said,“There are 31 disciplines which have been recognised by IOA Charter. The Kerala Games organisers have been told to accept entries only in those disciplines.”
The Kerala government’s half-hearted approach to host the National Games has given the Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association (UPOA) a slight hope to snatch the event as they have shown interest in hosting the 35th edition of the tournament. The National Games were held in Ranchi, in 2011, where they had to encounter a lot of postponements. With this year’s contest already facing spells of delay, the IOA has confirmed the UPOA’s proposal to host the National Games in 2016.
