NEW DELHI: The Sports Authority of India (SAI) confirmed on Thursday that the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and its administration will come under comprehensive review after the Asian Games, Press Trust of India reports.
Under the programme, nearly 180 athletes are receiving government funding to prepare for competitions such as the Asian Games and the Olympic Games. The thought behind a revamp is to reward only the most talented and deserving athletes.
“We will have an entire restructuring of the TOP Scheme. First, we will have a complete review of the beneficiaries after the Asian Games. Many of them are there in the list in view of the Asian Games,” SAI director general Neelam Kapur was quoted by the newswire as saying to reporters.
“We as a country are not currently at a stage where we can win a lot of medals (in Olympics). The idea is to nurture talented and deserving athletes. Ten years down the line, TOPS may be only for athletes preparing for Olympics.”
Kapur is of the opinion that the secretarial work of the Mission Olympic Cell will have more efficiency if it is managed by specialists and professionals rather than the government.
“There will be a secretariat of the Mission Olympic Cell and we are going to outsource (the secretarial work) to some professional firm.
“There will be a high performance manager at the top and there will be an athlete relation manager who will have direct communication with elite athletes. It will be much more focused. The idea is to have the best professional management which will also be made accountable and transparent in its functioning,” she added.
This will ensure that the SAI will become a “leaner and more professional body”, focusing only on core sporting activities.
“We will still look after core sporting activities but will have partners and will outsource non-core activities.”
“We are a society and we cannot function as a government department. The idea is to serve the athletes and Indian sports and not to act as a regulator. Sports Ministry is the regulator and policy maker and SAI is not. The word Authority has been removed and we will registered as Sports India with the trademark authority.”
Reportedly, the revamp will also include the performance of those overseas coaches who are paid by SAI, even if working with other NSFs. When it comes to coaches in the SAI academies, its governing body announced that it will be doubling their salaries from Rs 100,000 to Rs 200,000, with the aim of leveling with coaches of elite athletes at national camps, according to SAI deputy director general Sandip Pradhan.
