Covid-19 hit Sports Dept revenue

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 14

The Covid-19 pandemic has left the UT Sports Department, one of the major revenue earning units of the UT Administration, to face huge losses due to shutting down of local training centres.

Usually– during this period– the department earn lakhs of rupees by allotting memberships at various coaching centres. Swimming pools— two at Sector 23 and one each at Sector 34, Mani Majra, Sector 43 and Sector 39— are the most popular training centre among the masses.

There are a total of 14 coaching centres catering to sportspersons and sports lovers.

“We really cannot do anything in this. The Covid-19 pandemic has hit our centres and possibly will continue to affect in upcoming months. In previous years our centres have received a tremendous response,” said Tejdeep Singh Saini, UT Director Sports.

When asked about plans to open these centres soon, Saini said: “We have to wait for government’s guidelines. However, swimming pools are likely to remain close for this session, even if the government allowed opening of sports centres. It’s very risky and we have to see the feasibility–according to number of cases here and best available resources to tackle sensitisations at pools.”

Dark clouds over tournaments

Not only the revenue generation but the pandemic has also affected annual sports calendar of the department. Two championships were already postponed, while the calendar is yet to be announced. “Our coaches and staff have been doing other duty of the administration. There is no scope of discussing annual sports calendar at this time. We need to assess which tournaments we can conduct in coming months,” said Saini. The annual major tournament— Administrator’s Challenge Cup All India Football Cup– along with other invitational tournaments is likely to be postponed or even cancelled.

Pressure on admission process

In case of no tournaments in city, it will be difficult for local sportspersons to get admissions under sports quota in various school/colleges or to get benefits of various scholarship schemes. Every year, the UT Sports Department give nearly 2,000 gradation certificates.

Sports gradation postponed

The process of issuing sport gradation certificates has already been postponed by the UT Sports Department. The fresh dates are yet to be announced.