P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik received only 1.66% of total amount spent on Rio-bound athletes: Report

September 12, 2016

New Delhi, Sep 12: Rio Olympics medal winners P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malikreceived only 1.66 per cent, for their preparation for the international sporting event, of the Rs 36.85 crore spent by the government on the 117 Olympians who took part under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) launched last year, reported the Indian Express on Monday.

collageUnder TOPS, the government spent Rs 61.13 lakh on Sindhu and Malik, the report added.

Where did most of the funds go?

Citing data compiled on August 22, the national daily said that in some cases, a significant chunk of the funds was spent on athletes who turned out to be prominent under-performers. The report gave the example of the women’s relay squad, on which Rs 2.94 crore were spent, which finished seventh in their heats and did not qualify for the semi-finals.

Shooting, the country's most successful Olympic discipline in the last three games, received nearly half of the overall amount, the report said, putting the figure at Rs 15.39 crore.

The government spent that amount on the 12 shooters who went to Rio, according to the report, and 10 of them got more than Rs 1 crore each. India's medal-prospect in the discipline, Abhinav Bindra, received the highest amount among individual athletes at Rs 2.37 crore.

The report added that the second highest expenditure, according to the data, was incurred on athletics, with Rs 7.80 crore being spent on 30 out of the 36 athletes who qualified.

According to the report, of the total amount under TOPS, Rs 6.36 crore was spent on disciplines – badminton (Rs 3.84 crore) and wrestling (Rs 2.52 crore) – that did net India medals. The report added that Rs 45.27 lakh went to badminton silver medal-winner Sindhu and Rs 15.86 lakh to wrestling bronze medal-winner Sakshi.

However, in terms of return on investment, TOPS mostly missed out, with Rs 30.49 crore (out of the total of Rs 36.85 crore) being spent on disciplines which did not net India any medals, the report said. The report cited the example of discus thrower Vikas Gowda. Gowda, who the sportsministry saw as a medal-prospect, received Rs 1.02 crore but he finished 28th in his event.

What is TOPS?

Launched in March 2015, TOPS is a top-up funding scheme which is meant to fulfil the direct needs of Olympic athletes, including amount spent on personal coaches and support staff, travel and accommodation expenses during competitions and training, and equipment expenses.

According to the report, TOPS is over and above the central budget, which stands at Rs 750 crore for the period beginning from the start of 2012 to December 31, 2015, according to the previoussports minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Did we spend enough?

India's expenditure on this account appears to fall short when compared to many other participating nations.

According to the report, in comparison to Great Britain, which spent $350 million on all its Rio-bound athletes, and Australia, which spent $332 million in the period between the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, India spent approximately $5.5 million under TOPS in the run-up to the Olympics.

Speaking to the national daily, Sports Minister Vijay Goel said: “If we want to broad-base our sport, we need more budget to provide infrastructure, training and coaches for our athletes. So definitely, we need a bigger budget.”

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Agencies
January 23,2020

Aurangabad, Jan 23: An FIR has been registered against three people including former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin for allegedly duping a travel agent, Mohammad Shadab, of more than Rs 20 lakh.

However, Mohammad Azharuddin has refuted allegations and said: "I strongly rubbish the false FIR filed against me in Aurangabad. I am consulting my legal team and would be taking action as necessary."

Azharuddin's personal assistant Mujeeb lives in Augurangabad and has good relations with the travel agency of Shadab.

The travel agent alleged that Mujeeb asked him to book some flight tickets but did not pay the amount.

The police have booked the three under Section 406, 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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Agencies
March 26,2020

Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.

Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.

"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.

Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.

"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.

The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.

Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.

Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.

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