Coaches will have 4-year contracts for uninterrupted training for athletes, says Kiren Rijiju

TAKING cognizance of hiring and firing of coaches before expiry of contracts affecting the training of sportspersons, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports  Kiren Rijiju says foreign and Indian coaches for training Indian Athletes will henceforth have a four-year contract in alignment with the Olympic cycle. Multi-national Olympics is held every four years. Kiren Rijiju said that the decision is intended to ensure the right coaching for country’s elite athletes is not interrupted so that  India’s chances in all major international tournaments, including the Olympics, are improved. Expressing his confidence that the decision will benefit the athletes, Kiren Rijiju said, it will also help India’s long-term roadmap for Olympic preparation for 2024 and 2028. President of Indian Olympic Association Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra has  said that frequent change of coaches impacted the performance of athletes. Meanwhile, the contracts of all foreign coaches have been extended till 30th September of next year since the Tokyo Olympics-2020 is expected to held in 2021.It has been postponed in view of COVID-19 pandemic. Kiren Rijiju has said that Fit India Movement is becoming people’s movement in true sense. Addressing a Webinar ‘Fit Hai to Hit hai India ‘along with Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Kiren  Rijiju said, it is the largest movement in the world. In the last few months, 2.5 lakh schools have registered for Fit India School Programme. The movement aims to make the countrymen fit and make the country a great sporting nation.  India has a rich tradition of sports, but we have not developed it as a culture. The Minister expressed happiness that CBSE and other organizations and the sportspersons are taking the Fit India Movement forward.