National Sports Awards postponed to September 25

The Sports Ministry is open to the idea of considering outstanding performers of next month’s Asian Games for this year’s National Sports Awards, which will be held on September 25 instead of the usual August 29 to ensure that athletes don’t miss out due to their participation in the continental showpiece.

Every year, the National Sports Awards ceremony is held on August 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand as the National Sports Day.

But in a departure from tradition, the awards ceremony will be held on September 25 to avoid a clash of dates with the Asian Games to be held in the Indonesian twin cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2. Sports secretary Rahul Bhatnagar said the decision was taken to ensure maximum participation from sportspersons and the ministry has already received the green signal from the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the change of dates.

“The ministry has decided to shift the date as it coincides with the Asian Games. We want maximum participation from athletes, coaches and officials at the awards ceremony so we wrote to Rashtrapati Bhawan, requesting for the change of date,” Bhatnagar said. The official also confirmed that performances at the Asian Games will be considered for the sports awards.