Srinagar, Aug 10 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said athletes cannot be expected to win medals at national and international events without proper sporting infrastructure, stressing the need to provide them with quality facilities, training and financial support.
Addressing an event here, Omar Abdullah according to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said Jammu and Kashmir still lags behind in sporting infrastructure and needs to improve considerably.
“The right fruits of hard work will come when you get the right facilities. We are quite behind in this regard and need to improve going forward,” he said.
Omar highlighted the shortage of synthetic tracks in J&K, saying athletes were being asked to compete against sportspersons who train throughout the year with better facilities.
“I can count the synthetic tracks on fingers. I can see only four. When we cannot provide our athletes with synthetic tracks, what medals can we expect from them?” he asked. “Your competition is with those who are practising for 12 months of the year,” he added.
He also said Jammu and Kashmir must make greater use of its high-altitude areas to promote quality sports and training while maintaining a balance between established and emerging disciplines.
Referring to the overwhelming focus on cricket, CM Omar said other sporting disciplines also need greater attention and investment.
“Unfortunately, when we talk about sports, perhaps more than 80 percent of the attention goes towards cricket. Most of the money is also in cricket, followed by football and then other sports,” he said.
He said if India wants to succeed in international competitions, athletes must be encouraged across different sporting disciplines.
“If we really want to achieve something in competitions like the Commonwealth Games and other international events, we have to participate in different kinds of sports,” Omar said.
He also linked sports promotion with the fight against drug abuse. “Staying away from drugs cannot be a slogan for just one day in the year. It has to be for 12 months in a year, and that will happen only when we provide infrastructure for sports,” he said.
He said the government would do whatever possible to promote sports in Jammu and Kashmir—(KNO)
