New Delhi, 9 January (H.S.): Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday called upon all stakeholders to contribute to take the country forward in sports while convening a meeting of Mission Olympic Cell at Dhyan Chand National Stadium here.

Mandaviya said in the meeting focused on the plans for preparation for the Los Angeles Games in 2028, India's sports infrastructure and funding is at par with the countries performing well globally. Winning a medal in the Olympics is not a task of one year or six months. It requires good preparation in advance.

Many people including Gagan Narang, Pullela Gopichand, Viren Rasquinha, Aparna Popat, Dr. Satyapal Singh, Prashanti Singh, Gayatri Madkekar, Kamlesh Mehta, Cyrus Poncha, Deepti Bopaiya, Siddharth Shankar, Manisha Malhotra, Gautam Vadhera, Prem Lochab attended the meeting. Players, coaches and administrators from across the country as well as officials of the Sports Ministry and Sports Authority of India (SAI) gathered in the meeting to share their views.

Sports Ministry Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi introduced the members of the newly constituted Mission Olympic Cell and the newly appointed CEO of Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Nachattar Singh Johal.

The Sports Minister stressed the need to adopt a 360-degree approach to improve the sports ecosystem in the country with the combined efforts of national sports federations, state governments, corporate houses, public sector undertakings and non-governmental organisations.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar