CHENNAI: It is getting more and more curious and even more intriguing. A straightforward awards ceremony has been mired in needless controversy. The Arjuna Awards fiasco has reached a level of absurdity that seems incomprehensible in any sensible world. The sports ministry is still sitting on the names of players, at least 25 of them (including Khel Ratna), since December 24, 2025 apparently because of a name or two that could be considered debatable. What seems even more absurd is that the new list of Arjuna Awardees ideally should be selected before August 29, the date on which the awards were supposed to be conferred. Yet, the sports ministry is not even bothered.
This has led to anxiety among players who were part of the selected list. Some of them are also part of the Commonwealth and Asian Games. One of the questions the players have been posing is why the names have not been declared even after so many months. The next cycle has already started and they are clueless what would happen to them. The way the sports ministry is treating the national sports awards shows their indifference to players' plight. The awards are performance based.
One athlete whose name appeared on the list is not sure if they need to apply again. “Should we apply again? Or our names will be added to the new list of winners?” asked one athlete, who is training for the Asian Games. They are not just fretting over new applications but also the technicality of selections. If they indeed have to re-apply then some of their achievements might fall out of the four-year cycle.
“What happens to our records? The new list would have players whose performance in the last four years would be counted and most could have better points because of that,” explained another athlete. It is not restricted to this.
According to an India international who has won many medals at continental and world level, there are other issues as well. One player pointed out that the monetary benefit is also one of them. “If we would have conferred the Award and cash prize in January, we could have earned some interest on it,” said the athlete. “Not just that we would have been entitled for travel concessions and other benefits.” The Arjuna awardee receives a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh apart from a statuette, certificate and ceremonial dress.
The athletes are of the opinion that the sports ministry should delay this year’s Awards because of the Commonwealth and Asian Games. “All the athletes who are part of the Asian Games teams would be preparing for the Games and if they host the Awards ceremony then their training might get affected.” If the Awards ceremony could have been held during covid, why is that this time they are not announcing the names? Dronacharya and Khel Protsahan Awards too have not been announced.
The sports ministry has not given any answer as yet but it learnt that a name or two in the list were not meeting the eligibility criteria and the ministry did not want to antagonize an important selection committee member. However, not announcing names is an insult to the selection committee’s decision. It indicates that they do not respect their own panel’s assessment. The panel had distinguished players like London Olympic medallist Gagan Narang, Moscow Olympic hockey gold medallist team-member MM Sommaya and former badminton star Aparna Popat and was headed by a retired judge.
The sports ministry has been delaying the awards after 2020. In 2021, it was the Olympic year, 2022 the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2023, while 2024 was the Paris Games. Ironically, 2025 is one of the leanest years in terms of sports achievement cycle. But they say where there is a will there's a way.
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Arjuna Award: Tejaswin Shankar (athletics), Priyanka (athletics), Narender (boxing), Vidit Gujrathi (chess), Divya Deshmukh (chess), Dhanush Srikanth (para-shooting), Pranati Nayak (gymnastics), Rajkumar Pal (hockey), Surjeet (kabaddi), Nirmala Bhati (kho kho), Rudransh Khandelwal (para-shooting), Ekta Bhyan (para-athletics), Padmanabh Singh (polo), Arvind Singh (rowing), Akhil Sheoran (shooting), Mehuli Ghosh (shooting), Sutirtha Mukherjee (TT), Sonam Malik (wrestling), Aarti (yoga), Treesa Jolly (badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (badminton), Lalremsiami Hmar Zote (hockey), Mohammed Afsal (athletics), Pooja (kabaddi).
Khel Ratna: Hardik Singh (hockey).