Oly Task Force: Form Empowered Committee, remove salary cap

The Olympic Task Force, set up by the Sports Ministry, on Monday recommended formation of an ‘Empowered Steering Committee’ for the 2020 Tokyo Games along with removal of salary cap for Indian coaches.

The Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) along with High Performance Director (HPD) will work cohesively to create an atmosphere which brings out the best from the potential medal hopefuls going into Tokyo 2020.

Among eight recommendations is the introduction of ‘Pradhan Mantri Gold Card’ for elite athletes and coaches giving them access to emergency quota in air/rail/bus tickets. A 24x7 NADA helpline would help the athletes get a clarity on the kind of supplements they can use.

“We put up a few pointers during our meeting and the main recommendation was to set up an empowered steering committee to take charge of the next Olympics,” Pullela Gopichand, member of the Task Force said. “We have been meeting at regular intervals. And, besides 2020, of course the discussions are also being held for 2024 and 2028.

“We debated several issues and brought to the table ideas that can eventually be implemented to bring in greater synergy among all the stakeholders and supplement the efforts being made by different segments,” Gopichand added.

Besides, the three sportspersons, the other five members of the task force are School Sports Promotion Board head Om Pathak, hockey coach S Baldev Singh, who runs an academy in Shahabad, G L Khanna (Professor and Dean of Exercise and Physiology at Manav Rachna International University at Faridabad), journalist Rajesh Kalra and Sports Authority of Gujarat Director General Sandeep Pradhan.

“Pradhan, Om Pathak and Baldev Singh will be in charge for 2024 and 2028 Olympics. Rajesh Kalra and G L Khanna will be helping both the subcommittees. But our first priority is 2020,” former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha had said on February 3, when the task force has met for the first time.