CHENNAI: Requesting a one-time grant to sports bodies in the country to help them to tide over the cash crunch due to the pandemic, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Sunday wrote a letter to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.
In his letter, IOA chief Narinder Batra stated that he does not see sponsors coming forward till/after the 2021 Olympics to assist these units, and hence the bodies will require handholding by the central government.
Batra, who also heads International Hockey Federation (FIH), requested Rs 10 crore for IOA, Rs 5 crore each for national sports federations (NSFs) of Olympic disciplines, Rs 2.50 crore each for non-Olympic sports federations, and Rs 1 crore each for state Olympic association. This adds up to approximately Rs 220 crore.
“The pandemic has affected the normal life of mankind. It has affected the business, employment as well as the sports activities across the globe. All sports competitions, training and other related activities have come to a standstill and now in order to restart all these activities, it will require a lot of financial support to IOA/NSFs/SOAs,” said the letter.
“After the pandemic when restrictions are lifted, we will have to restart and rebuild all over once again. There are many conditions, which will now be attached to the running of daily affairs and they will require money/cash to implement.”
The IOA chief also said that the sports units will have no objection in providing the utilisation certificates duly certified and verified by C&AG approved auditors for funds granted by the government.
“The financial assistance will help these sports bodies overcome the cash crunch being faced by them. They will also ensure smooth running till the Tokyo Olympics followed by Asian Games & Commonwealth Games in 2022,” read the letter.