IOA to take up implementation of TOPS with sports ministry

New Delhi, December 27: In the wake of an all-important sporting calendar in 2018 which features the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in Jakarta, Narinder Batra, the newly elected president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), has stated that the IOA will do whatever it takes to assist athletes in their endeavor to achieve results in the Olympic cycle leading up to the Tokyo Olympics.

A high-profile committee headed by Abhinav Bindra, India's lone individual Olympic gold medalist, to select the athletes for the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) said a Rio-like diasaster was waiting to happen in 2018.

Reacting to the recent statement made by Bindra, who emphasized on improving 'the overall depth of professional support for athletes', Batra said, "I have taken note of the observations made by the TOPS committee on the need for better implementation and will be discussing this with the Union sports ministry to ensure the best interests of athletes are borne in mind."

The TOPS was launched to aid the selected athletes' training and participation in international competitions. The committee sought a report on the implementation of the TOPS, which it called tardy.

Batra stated that a systematic development programme has reaped benefits for those National Federations who have taken up this initiative. "It is undoubtedly necessary to have a long-term approach in terms of athlete training and provision of all required amenities for achieving our goals during this Olympic cycle. This approach needs to be adapted not just for top athletes of the country but must start as early as junior and sub-junior levels across disciplines to prepare a medal-worthy contingent for India. Those Federations who have already taken this up as priority are seeing results in the international arena." Batra said.

Batra further stated that he will take up this matter with the ministry of youth affairs and sports to ensure necessary facilities and support is provided in this crucial Olympic cycle. "I would like to emphasis that the IOA will do whatever it takes to ensure a professionally-driven system that oversees athletes' requirements as was envisioned by the establishment of this scheme. As the president of IOA, my goal is to see India excel at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games and to do that we need to work in unison along with NSFs and the ministry of youth affairs and sports and only then shall we accomplish desired results," he added.

Bindra recently quit from the committee citing potential conflict of interest with his personal projects.

Source: Press release