Concerts, rallies: Sport takes backseat at Delhi stadia

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is giving priority to non-sports events at two of its biggest facilities in the national capital – Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Indira Gandhi International Stadium.

Only 11 of the 131 events held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium this year were related to sports. The remaining were non-sporting events such as music concerts and programmes organised by government bodies, NGOs and political parties. Similarly, Indira Gandhi International Stadium hosted just five sports events as opposed to 43 non-sports.

This was revealed after an RTI query was filed by activist Kamal Anand.

The non-sporting events included the two-day concert of Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh that was held in the main area of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The organisers as well as SAI officials were left embarrassed after videos of the stadium littered with empty beer bottles and other garbage surfaced on social media. The clips showed that sports training equipment dumped in one corner to make way for spectators.

Talking to The Tribune, Anand said public uproar after the Diljit’s concert compelled him to file an RTI query. “I saw the videos posted by athletes and wanted to know how frequently these stadiums are used for non-sporting activities,” he said.

Anand said, “The SAI did not share complete information as I had asked for details for the last four years. They said all reports have been uploaded on the website, but I could only find details for 2021-22. It gives an impression that something is not right.

“What is more surprising is that the SAI has been overlooking its own rules as regulations while accepting bookings.

As per norms, the main arena and the warm-up area cannot be used for non-sporting events. When asked, SAI officials hinted that there was nothing wrong in hosting non-sports activities.”

An official of the SAI said, “Facilities like JLN, IG and National Stadium have both sporting and non-sporting (surrounding) areas. Non-sporting events like music concerts are held in the surrounding areas and not in the play area. Internationally also, most sporting facilities are known for hosting non-sporting events.”

“Also, the sports events calendar is planned months in advance such as ISL, Junior Hockey World Cup etc. It is only in the rare event the sporting arena is used for any non-sporting events. It is only done if the infrastructure is not being used for a sports activity,” the official added.

Meanwhile, other sports stadiums in the capital have fared better. These included Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Swimming Complex and Karni Singh Shooting Range. While only one non-sporting event, which was a film shoot, was held at the shooting range, no non-sports activity was held at the swimming complex. At Major Dhyanchand stadium, only 12 non-sporting events were held this year.