The Sports Ministry of India (SAI) has, in a press release, announced that it will name all the upcoming and upgraded facilities of the SAI after renowned athletes who have brought accolades for the country. SAI says the initiative is meant to honor sports heroes of the country.
The ministry did not give away the names of the athletes who would be honored. According to the press release, in the first leg, the newly built air-conditioned wrestling hall and the learners swimming pool in the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Lucknow, the 100-bedded hostel in NCOE (National Centre of Excellence) Bhopal, the multipurpose hall and Girls’ hostel in NCOE Sonepat, as well as the new SAI Training Centre in Guwahati, which has a hostel, multipurpose hall and staff quarters, will be named after local star
sportspersons.
Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said in the press release, “To build a sports culture in the country, it is important that our sportspersons get the honor that they deserve, because only then will the younger generations be enthused to take up sport as a career.”
“The government is already providing all support to present and even past athletes to ensure that they have a life of comfort and dignity. Acknowledging their contribution to sports by naming sporting facilities after them is yet another endeavor of the Government to strengthen its commitment to sportspersons,” he added.
Very few of the country’s sports facilities, including venues that host events and training centres, are named after former sportspersons, and this has often led to a debate about if enough is being done to honor sportspersons, and this move can be viewed as an attempt to keep their achievements in public consciousness.
