Top athletes, including hockey skipper Sardar Singh and badminton sensation Saina Nehwal, have finally given their consent for the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) after sports ministry agreed to amend the contentious clauses in its scheme to start funding the medal hopefuls for the 2016 Rio Games.
Top athletes, including hockey skipper Sardar Singh and badminton sensation Saina Nehwal, have finally given their consent for the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) after sports ministry agreed to amend the contentious clauses in its scheme to start funding the medal hopefuls for the 2016 Rio Games.
It has been learnt that top players like shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap; women boxers MC Mary Kom and L Sarita Devi; athlete Seema Punia; entire senior men's hockey team and a couple of star shooters have signed on the dotted lines to accept TOPS.
This has come only days after dna reported on March 22 that how almost all the players refused to come under scheme citing the controversial clause which was forcing them to cut off ties with private organisations that provide them technical and monetary support and work solely in collaboration with the government.
The government has earmarked around Rs 40 crore for the scheme this year in addition to Rs 100 crore from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) and the money will be spent on providing the athletes with high-quality training, equipment, competition exposure and medical and scientific support for their preparation.
The first indication that athletes might sign up with TOPS emerged during the Indian Open Badminton tournament last week when Kashyap told dna that he is on verge of signing contract with the government.
"There are no reservations about any of the clauses. Everything has been sorted out and surely, I am going to be part of it. Obviously, Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) would continue to support me. The contentious clauses have all been taken off," Kashyap told dna.
Six shuttlers — Saina, Srikanth, Kashyap, PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and RMV Gurusaidutt — have been identified under the scheme by the TOPS committee headed by young BJP parliamentarian Anurag Thakur.
Boxer Sarita said that she has received the revised draft of the TOPS contract and that she would be signing it after going through other clauses.
"All our concerns have been addressed by the sports ministry. The revised draft allows us to continue our association with the private organisations which are providing us the technical and monetary support. I'll soon be signing it," said Sarita.
Both Kashyap and Sarita are supported and funded by non-profit organisation OGQ.
The scheme's 'terms and conditions' had become a major cause of confrontation between the athletes and the ministry, which seek to block the external support the Olympic medal hopefuls have been getting from private organisation like OGQ, Anglian Medal Hunt and Jindal Sports Foundation.
However, the ministry has made it clear that athletes should not enter into any new association with any private sponsor or donor after March 1, 2015 without prior written consent of NSDF. Once the permission is granted, the athletes will have to inform the ministry of the nature of support so as to avoid receiving funding for the same activities as the scheme.
"Some of the athletes had issues regarding the scheme. We have decided not to stop them from receiving additional funding from the private organisations. If we are spending Rs 50-75 lakh on each individual to groom them for Olympics, why would we object to him/her getting a help of Rs 10-15 lakh from these agencies," said sports secretary Ajit Mohan Sharan.
Gutta blasts ministry
Meanwhile, ace women doubles shuttler Jwala Gutta on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the sports ministry for leaving her out of the TOPS. Her doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa has also not been included in the scheme.
"So, I just read news about Ashwini and my names not being there in top scheme. The only support we had was of that of govt now that also seems bleak," Jwala tweeted.
"The players who are already having lot of corporate support are in the list... and Ash and me not considered. Don't know what more to be done... Kinda tired... kinda disappointed. And if we speak it's called cribbing... and if we don't we will be just left out," she further added.
Jwala said the duo was looking towards the government for support in order to improve their world rankings and qualify for the Rio Games. She said that after this exclusion no one should expect any medals from badminton doubles players.
"If want to talk about performance we r currently 18, won 3 medals last year... now aiming to qualify for Olympics which I know many people are not aware how difficult it is in doubles event. Again and again we have only been ignored and if we talk about it is how much we crib," she said.
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