Have Asiad 2026 selection plan in place by August 29: Sports Secretary to NSFs

New Delhi: Sports secretary Hari Ranjan Rao on Thursday urged National Sports Federations (NSFs) to finalise their selection mechanism for next year's Asian Games by August 29 to ensure a greater focus on preparations for the showpiece in Japan.

Rao was addressing NSFs in the one-day 'Khelo Bharat Conclave' in the national capital where an action plan to take Indian sports forward is being discussed by various stakeholders, including sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, representatives of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and corporate houses, and prominent former athletes.

"Let's have a selection plan for the Asian Games by August 29, which is also the National Sports Day (and the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand). If we do that, we will have one entire year to prepare ourselves," Rao, who is also the Director General of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), told the gathering.

The Asian Games is scheduled to be held from September 19 to October 4 next year in Aichi-Nagoya. India would be aiming to better their best performance of 106 medals, including 28 gold, that was achieved in the previous edition in Hangzhou, China.

Rao's suggestion to the NSFs comes months after the Sports Ministry laid down strict guidelines on selection processes for quadrennial showpieces and the world and continental championships.

The ministry has asked NSFs to publicise the selection criteria for showpieces such as the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games, Para Asian Games and Commonwealth Games at least two years in advance.

However, as is clear from Rao's statement, the plan is still a work in progress for next year's showpiece.

The directives also make it mandatory for NSFs to upload selection policies on their respective websites and amend them only if there is a three-month window before a competition. It has also been made compulsory to videograph selection trials.

Standardisation of the selection criteria has been a long-standing demand in sports like shooting where renowned pistol coach Jaspal Rana has stated that policies which are not codified in advance negatively impact athletes.

Get Online

Rao, who was formerly an additional secretary to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), also called on the NSFs to digitise their Annual Calendar of Training and Competition (ACTC) and upload them on the National Sports Repository System in the next couple of months.

"I request cooperation from everyone, let's go online by October 1. Let's get rid of this offline ACTC documentation," he said.

Rao also revealed that three task forces, as mandated by the recently-released Khelo Bharat Niti, are in the works.

"The three task forces would be entrusted with the responsibility of improving the quality of coaches, create a good pool of administrators and make India a sports manufacturing hub. These task forces would be constituted soon," he said.

Also, the two labs for at the National Forensic Sciences University in Ahmedabad are now operational and testing supplements for possible presence of banned substances to ensure that athletes are saved from ingesting anything that is prohibited.

"Our athletes, a lot of times, take supplements which are contaminated. They are not aware, and these labs will go a long way in saving them," Rao said.

Good Governance

With the National Sports Governance Bill, which emphasises on accountability of administrators set to be introduced in the Parliament next week, Rao said it is the right time for the NSFs to act.

"I say on the upcoming National Sports Day, take a vow to announce three good governance measures in your NSF. It will reflect a commitment," he said.