THIRUVANTHAPURAM : If India want to prove their mettle in international arena, the ‘system should be changed,’ says Indian Olympic Association(IOA) Joint Secretary Anendeswar Pandey.
‘Now basically in India, sports is just a recreation and is not given much importance compated with other countries,’ Mr Pandy told UNI in an interview.
‘The country should give due importance to sports as in other areas like education and health,’ he said and suggested that the government should start sports research centres, sports medicine and sports science to build up new sports culture in the country.
Pointing out that the representation and involvement of people in sports events were considerably low in the country compared with other countries, he said ‘even in a small country like Cuba, participation in sports is over 95 per cent. In contrast, participation in sports is a meagre ten or 12 per cent or may be less than that.’ Regarding the expenditure for sports promotion in the country, he sarcastically said ‘if a foreign nation is spending about Rs 1000 per head for sports activities, the money spent for sports in India is just Rs 10 per head.’ (AGENCIES)
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