IOA writes to Sports Ministry seeking support to conduct National Games

New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday reached out to the Sports Ministry and sought support for conducting the National Games that has not been held since 2015. In the letter, the IOA cited the long delay in hosting the sporting event in a “regular and fixed” time frame and the need to organise it every two years for the betterment of the athletes in the country. “For a proper development of the sports and promotion of the Games, it is necessary to conduct the National Games after an interval of every two years, so that, the athletes can have the highest national platform to compete during their actual sporting career,” the IOA said. Interestingly, the National Games which was started in 1924 and over the decades earned a reputation for being a distinguished multi-sporting event, was last held in 2015 when it was hosted by Kerala. The IOA in its letter said that Goa was scheduled to host the 36th edition of the National Games in 2018 but the apex body also observed that the state was not in a position to host the games due to various reasons. “Goa was allotted the 36th National Games in the year 2018 to conduct after the Kerala National Games. “However, due to different reasons, Goa is still not ready to conduct the Games.” Some of the reasons cited in the letter behind Goa’s inability in hosting the Games were “parliament and state assembly elections, unexpected natural calamities etc.”