Athletes await their turn

Meet postponed by two days and restricted to four days instead of six

Athletes await their turn

Meet postponed by two days and restricted to four days instead of six

Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Ajay Maken had said recently, "I am not in favour of stadiums being used for non sporting recreational functions."

His words were, however, lost on the authorities of Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, who rented out the stadium complex for the wedding of former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's niece, over the weekend.

The event which is being held after 11 years was scheduled between March 14 and 19. It will now start today and conclude on 19, which means it will be now restricted to four days instead of six. The state games will be held to select athletes for the upcoming six national competitions.

The complex is yet to be cleared of the mess left by the wedding party. The authorities had rented the parking lot, badminton court, table tennis hall and the wrestling area for the wedding.

When MiD DAY visited the stadium last morning, the badminton courts were still being cleaned and decorative items being carried away in trucks.

Milindkumar Sathe, general secretary, Maharashtra Sports Council of the Deaf while speaking to MIDDAY said: "Apart from postponing of the dates, the event will now be restricted to four days instead of six. The place was not available because of the wedding and the authorities asked us to push the dates. We therefore rescheduled the dates and asked the participants to come on Tuesday instead."

Funds inadequate
The authorities at the Sports Complex saw no harm in renting out the venue for non-sporting events. They defended their action and said the government funds were not enough to maintain the 153 acres complex.

Manik Thosare, deputy director, sports and youth services said: "We get Rs 1.10 crore yearly for the maintenance of the complex, while our monthly expenditure is between Rs 60 to 65 lakh. We get quite a large sum of money from such events which are used for the amelioration of the stadium. We got Rs 35 to Rs 40 lakh for this particular wedding."

Officials maintain that the money is used for house-keeping, repairs, salaries and maintenance of the area.
Sanjay Sabnis, assistant director, Balewadi Sports Complex said: "There is no harm in allowing such non-sporting events on the premises. We are not letting these events take place at the cost of the athlete's practices or sports events. Then what's the issue?"

On the other hand, Padmakar Valvi, state minister for sports and youth welfare said that the authorities were entitled to give only the parking space for non-sporting events like wedding and musical concerts. "Sporting grounds like the hockey field, badminton courts and other areas can be given out on rent only for sporting events and nothing else."u00a0

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