India’s sports administrators were on Friday told that treating multi-sport events as an “outing with family” instead of being there for athletes will not be tolerated and were asked to give names for the Asian Games contingent by January 15 at a Sports Governance Conclave here.

The conclave was attended by Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and also featured top officials from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and national sports federations (NSFs), Gujarat’s Deputy Chief Minister and Sports Minister Harsh Sanghavi and Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao.

“It would be shameful if a large contingent of officials goes and not one is available when the athlete needs them. They have to be there 100 per cent of times for the athletes. Please don’t go if you think of this as an outing with relatives. We don’t need you,” Rao stated as he laid out the country’s 10-year medal strategy.

“The selection criteria for Commonwealth and Asian Games is already out. The organising committee for the Asian Games has set January 30 as the deadline for submission of names. The IOA must have told you that you have to give names by January 15, including support staff. If you don’t give names, you might miss the Games. And once you give names, you have to stick to them,” he said in a curt message to NSF officials.

Medal strategy presented

“Where exactly is the athlete that will play in 2036 when we plan to host the Olympics? He is in school right now. We have to tap that talent as soon as possible,” said Mandaviya.

“The government is ready to help you but you also have to cooperate. We should meet monthly to discuss the pressing issues,” he added. And in line with that vision, the medal strategy was detailed by Rao in a presentation.

“In 2036, we must get 12 to 14 gold medals and 30 to 35 total medals to be in the top 10 and in 2048 Olympics, 35-40 gold medals and around 100 total medals. Then only we can be in the top-10 club,” Rao said.

“All the major countries improved their rank substantially when they hosted the Games. China started ‘Project 119’ before the 2008 Beijing Games. They focussed on five disciplines, athletics, swimming, rowing, kayaking-canoeing and sailing for 119 medals.

“These were disciplines in which China was not known to win too many medals…in Beijing Olympics, they got 48 gold medals and in these five games they managed eight gold medals. This is the kind of focus that is expected from all of us and we need to think where we are,” he added.

He then talked about the 2028 Los Angeles Games which will have 353 events but India’s participation would be significantly low compared to nations like the USA and China, which will field jumbo squads across disciplines. “This is a painful scene. We think we will host the Olympics and not even participate in half the disciplines,” he said. “With these kind of statistics, are we ready to host the 2036 Olympics?” he asked.

He then laid down the plan that can have a transformational impact if implemented properly, including setting up of Olympic training centres for every sport, AI-driven monitoring mechanism to identify talent and a National Institute of Sports Science and Research.

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