India will host fantastic Commonwealth Games: Kalmadi

With the 2010 Commonwealth Games just round the corner, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi claimed that the preparation for the mega event is on track and there is no need for anyone to worry.

With the 2010 Commonwealth Games just round the corner, Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi has claimed that the preparation for the mega event is on track and there is no need for anyone to worry. In an exclusive chat with Swati Chaturvedi on Kahiye Janaab, Kalmadi said that the national capital is ready with world class stadia for the forthcoming Games.

Here are the excerpts: Swati: Mr Suresh Kalmadi, welcome to Kahiye Janaab. Is all well with the 2010 Commonwealth Games? Will the Games happen on time? Kalmadi: India will host a fantastic Commonwealth Games and surely, will host it on time. Primarily, it is an international event and there is no way we can postpone it. There are still 7-8 months to go and we still have time; we all have worked very hard for it. Swati: Where on hand, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Shiela Dikshit once said that she was ‘nervous’ and scared for the CWG; on the other hand, Sports Minister MS Gill is maintaining absolute silence on the issue. You are the one who is being constantly questioned on the CWG preparations. What is your take? Kalmadi: It is very unfortunate that you are blamed even after doing all the work. Being the chairman of the CWG Organising Committee, you are held responsible. But it is okay. The criticism is bound to come and it happens everywhere. It will only be after the Games that the people will realize that all went smoothly. We are sure about hosting the Games successfully.Swati: Incidents in the recent past have proved that the Federation has been very insensitive towards players’ issues. What happened with the Indian men and women’s hockey team and Abhinav Bindra is quite unfortunate. This insensitivity may be acceptable in politics but not in competitive sports. What is your take on that? Kalmadi: I am the president of the Indian Olympic Association. All other Federations are attached with the IOA. They are all autonomous bodies; they work according to their norms and deal with their players accordingly. I intervene when the things get out of control. When there was an issue with the Indian hockey team, I had to intervene and now everything is fine. I hope the issue with the women’s hockey team will be resolved soon, too. Swati: With different statements coming from different parts of the Sports Ministry regarding the preparations of the Games, how are we, as Team India, trying to project ourselves to the world? Kalmadi: We all have to work together, and we are working together. The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, has created a sub-cabinet, a Group of Ministers, for the Games who have been looking after its progress. There is complete co-ordination. And if someone goes out of the way to give a negative statement, I cannot do anything about it. But I can assure you that the work is progressing well and there is complete co-ordination between all the departments. Swati: US President Barrack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama themselves participated while bidding for the 2018 Olympics for their own city, Chicago. And here, ministers in the Parliament give out statements of India being a poor country and incapable of hosting the Olympic Games. What kind of a message are we giving out to the world? Kalmadi: India is progressing, not only economically but in every respect. The image must rise in the sporting arena too. As I said earlier, the PM has released a huge sum for the training of the athletes ahead of the Games. So we can obviously hope for some medals in the forthcoming Games. As for the Olympics, the bid for the 2018 Games went to Brazil and not the US. People say that India too must host the Olympics, but I believe that a successful CWG will lead to an Olympic bid. I have no doubt about that. We’ll bid for the Olympics in 2011, when we are prepared. We are now preparing for the CWG in Delhi and we have spent a lot on it. So when we bid for the Olympics, we will have less expenditure as most of the stadia and infrastructure would already be in place. Swati: Critics argue that the money spent on the CWG, which is around Rs 1620 crores, if used judiciously, could have been saved and spent on developing infrastructure throughout the country. Most importantly, many athletes would have been benefited by it. Your take on that! Kalmadi: The CWG is bringing a lot of goodwill to the country. For example, in the Baton Relay, the Queen of Britain, Queen Elizabeth, presented the Baton to Indian President Pratibha Patil at the Buckingham Palace. Through the Relay, we have traveled Europe and Africa, and in the process, we are also building business relations. All the Commonwealth businessmen will come to Delhi for the opening ceremony, and a lot many MoUs will be signed between them and their Indian counterpart. So the Games are also bringing a lot of businesses into our country. Apart from that, the Indian tourism sector will also develop during the CWG. A lot has been done for the beautification of the national capital; the roads have been improved, the international airport has been renovated, Metro has been built. Earlier, people used to fly over India and head straight to either Bangkok or Singapore. But now, they will stop by India as the CWG were played here. So I do not think that the money has been spent unnecessarily. Swati: But are we really united for the CWG preparations? Kalmadi: Yes, we are indeed. We at CWG Organising Committee are working for 23-24 hours a day. This year is very important for the Federation, although major work has already been done. The Commonwealth Federation comes here after every six months, and their latest report regarding us has been very positive. The report said that the 2010 Games have the potential of becoming the best CWG ever. This has been said by our critics there in Australia, and they have promised to send their biggest team, that is, around 450 athletes. So you can be rest assured that the preparations are leading to a successful CWG. Swati: We all know what happened with Abhinav Bindra, India’s lone Olympic Gold medalist. What do you have to say about that? Kalmadi: The Shooting Federation did have a meeting with the player. I intervened into the issue and things are settled now. Swati: The CWG has made you more of a fire-fighter; wherever there is fire, you are rushed to the spot! Kalmadi: That is my job as the IOA president. I have to look after the Federation. All I wish currently is that the state of Indian sports improves in future. The previous two elections of the IOA have been unanimous, and that is very rare. I am happy that the people of the Federation have unanimously chosen me to be the president and given me this huge responsibility. Swati: You were also tagged as the ‘Sports Mafia’! Kalmadi: I don’t care about the names given to me. The fact remains that I am running the sports in this country. Olympic sports are important worldwide, while in India, only cricket is important. While cricket is played in only 10 countries, Olympic sports are played in over 200 countries. It is a global sport. We have brought CWG to the nation so that even the youth of the country gets involved into it. We bagged three medals in the Beijing Olympics, we led the medal tally in the Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune and we are sure to do well in the CWG later this year. People in India are showing interest in Olympic sports, and if this continues, the future of Indian sports is quite bright. Swati: Hockey being our national game, why is cricket given more importance in our country? Kalmadi: The Indian youth is attracted to cricket and the team is doing well too. I wish all the luck to them. But my main concern now is to promote Olympic sports in the country and I am working towards it. Swati: What do you have say on the way Pakistan players were snubbed by the IPL this year? Kalmadi: I feel Pakistani players should have been included in the IPL. Peace through sports – that should be our aim and responsibility. We have ensured to keep Pakistan as the last halt in the CWG Baton Relay; the Baton will enter India through the Wagah border. We need to build peaceful relations through sports. Pakistan has played a major role in bringing CWG to India; in fact, they lobbied for our country at the international level. We are united in sports. This IPL incident has affected this relationship. Swati: All the athletes in India live in pitiable condition. Isn’t it your moral responsibility as the IOA president to help them? Kalmadi: The government is responsible for them. What we try to do is give maximum money to the players. We too can’t do much as the sports budget is too less; it is almost 0.00002 percent of the total budget. The sports budget has to be increased in the first place. Swati: Reports say that a lot many people take their share from the sports budget and that it is spent more on useless things! Kalmadi: It is not true. We do our best to help the players. The money released by the PM this year would be spent on players’ training, diet and accommodation. The transformation is happening and it is due to the CWG. Swati: Can India produce medal winners? Kalmadi: Sure. We have got a lot of money for the training of our athletes for the first time. If this continues, we are sure to perform well at the CWG. Swati: What is your biggest worry for the 2010 CWG? Kalmadi: I was earlier worried for the CWG, now I am not. Everything is on track now. We surely had a slow start; the budgets weren’t sanctioned then, the international federation had to approve a lot many things. But now, the work is going on at full scale and we hope the stadia will be ready by March. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the swimming pool will be ready by June. The Games Village, which has been proposed as the world’s best, will also be ready by June. The hockey stadium has been rated as the world’s best by the international hockey federation president. Global standard infrastructure is being built, and we are sure to earn a lot because of it. Swati: The way China projected Beijing during the Olympic Games, are we ready with something of that sort? Kalmadi: We are focusing on Delhi now. With the Baton Relay, we are trying to grab business. We will organize a colorful opening ceremony which will be based on the 5,000-year old culture of India. After that, we’ll have a three-day business seminar. India is currently being looked as an industrial giant. And the CWG will help in strengthening that hold. The tourism will increase by leaps and bounds, the GDP will also rise. The CWG has helped in increasing our employment rate by 1.1 million and this will remain even after the Games. So we hope to have a successful 2010 Commonwealth Games! Adapted by: Sudeshna Guha Roy