WEEKS AHEAD OF THE Commonwealth and Asian Games, Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) has reportedly been made the single nodal point for almost all sports disciplines in which India participates at the Olympics and beyond.
Per New Indian Express, TOPS, headed by NS Johal as its CEO, will be overseeing 27 Olympic sports.
The TOPS division was formed in 2014 as the Union Sports Ministry’s flagship programme to support India’s top athletes to win medals at the Olympics with six high priority sports (archery, badminton, boxing, hockey, shooting and wrestling).
According to an office order issued by Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao, who is also the SAI Director General last week, the TOPS will now oversee all activities of the 27 sports and is aimed at streamlining all operational requirements. The letter also said that they are realigning responsibilities of SAI divisions. Target Asian Games Gold (TAGG) will now be redistributed between TOPS and TEAMS (Training of Elite Athletes and Management Support) division. In short, TOPS has gotten bigger with more responsibility, according to NIE.
The sports under TOPS are aquatics, archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, skateboarding, sport climbing, squash, surfing, triathlon, weightlifting, and wrestling. This apparently would take care of all sportspersons in individual disciplines and one team sport hockey and cater to their needs.
With this order, TOPS effectively becomes the umbrella division of SAI that will cater to all Olympic disciplines (priority and non-priority). Apart from monitoring and funding, the TOPS have been given the mandate to interact with all the respective National Sports Federations (NSFs), associations and stakeholders in assigned sports, NIE further reports. It will be the primary interface. Apart from funding and monitoring, TOPS also approves customized programmes for individual athletes.
According to the order, TOPS will also address governance issues whenever referred by the Ministry; development proposals and budgeting matters of NSFs for the allocated disciplines. It will also assist the ministry in the implementation of various schemes related to ANSF (assistance to NSF) and NSDF (National Sports Development Fund). TOPS will also coordinate for participation in Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games (CWG), Youth Olympics, Asian Youth Games, Asian Beach Games, etc. The TEAMS division will look after Para, Winter, and Non-Olympic disciplines and those sports not part of TOPS.
