New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify the Government stand regarding hosting of the South Asian Games (SAG) in Delhi next year. In a letter to Dr. Singh, IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra requested the PM to immediately convene a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Sports Minister Ajay Maken and the IOA officials to take a decision on SAG.
The letter clarified that the IOA did not make any bid for these Games and they were allotted to India “because of the rotation system”. SAG, earlier known as the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games, are part of the SAARC Charter “according to which, the Games have to be rotated amongst the member states”.
“As per Article 12 (4) of the South Asia Olympic Constitution, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the country on which the responsibility of the celebration of the Games fall, shall organise the Games on its own or it may delegate this authority to an Organising Committee, which shall act under the guidance of the NOC,” Malhotra explained in his letter to the PM.
He said the meeting, to be presided by the Prime Minister, needed to be convened to discuss the planning and conduct of the Games “which is a National commitment, because India is a founder-member of SAARC”.
Malhotra said with Delhi having huge sports infrastructure, the SAG could be conducted “at minimal cost”. He revealed that Bangladesh, which hosted the last edition of SAG, incurred an expenditure of only Rs 80 crore. “It should cost us much less, as we don’t have to spend anything on creation of stadiums,” the letter stated. The letter was to know “whether the Government is interested in hosting the Games or not.”
The Tribune