It was a meeting worth a mention when the Power Sportz team led by Kanthi D Suresh met the Honb’le Sports Minister Mr. Kiren Rijjiju at Shastri Bhawan on Thursday. The team from Power Sportz handed a memorandum to the Sports Minister carrying some crucial recommendations. The channel feels, these recommendations would go a long way if incorporated while determining annual recognition of the National Sports Federations (NSFs).
Athlete appraisal of the NSFs should be a key criterion in their annual recognition, which is currently not in the rule book, but only financial statements to the calendar of events and other requisite obligations. “We have engaged with close to 300 athletes and other stakeholders in the sporting environment,” said Kanthi D Suresh. “And we realize that currently there is no institutional framework to record athlete perceptions of their National Sports Federations.”
“The most important stakeholder in the sporting environment is the athlete and to balance, the equation between the athlete and the administrators, a well-made appraisal system will go a long way in creating a more egalitarian sports environment in the country,” she said.
Currently, the parameters in renewing the annual recognition of NSFs are from the National Sports code 2011, which is threadbare, feels Power Sportz. Incidentally, the Sports Minister has rebuffed the idea of a new sports code.
Not only Power Sportz has the distinction of being the premier digital sports channel in the world and a breakaway from the cookie-cutter establishments, its founder and Editor-in-chief, Kanthi D Suresh is also someone who has broken the glass ceiling as the only woman to helm a sports channel.
Sports Minister Mr. Rijjiju was happy to accept the recommendations and promised to give it due diligence in the near future.
