Edelweiss ties up with IOA to sponsor CWG, Asiad, 2020 Olympics

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday named Edelweiss Financial Services Limited as sponsor of the Indian contingent for this year's Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and National Games 2018 and 2019.

IOA also announced Raymond as its official styling partner and Shiv Naresh Sports as its official sports apparel partner for the CWG to be held in Gold Coast from April 4 to 15.

During a press conference here, the official ceremonial attire and official sports apparel of the athletes were revealed by Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, IOA President Narinder Dhruv Batra and Secretary General Rajeev Mehta.

Reaffirming this long-term partnership, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has offered a life Insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh for all the athletes representing India at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Edelweiss had in 2016 announced a Rs 1 crore cover for athletes representing India at the Rio Olympics.

The announcement was made in the presence of international athletes including H.S. Prannoy (Badminton), Mehuli Ghosh (Shooting), Anuraj Singh (Shooting), Manpreet Singh (Indian Men's Hockey Team Captain), Rani Rampal (Indian Women's Hockey Team Captain), Rupinder Pal Singh (Hockey), Savita Punia (Hockey), Dipa Karmakar (Gymnastics), Mohd Bobby (Gymnastics), Gaurav Kumar (Gymnastics) and Pranita Das (Gymnastics).

"It is instrumental to have private sectors come forward to promote Indian sports and I am sure this new partnership will be a boon for our elite athletes preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo," Batra said.

Rathore said: "The biggest sponsor of Indian sports till now has been the government of India and we will continue to do so. All the federations should work towards making themselves financially independent and generate revenue of their own," he said.

"The ministry, the IOA and the NSFs are mainly responsible for the running of Indian sports and no stakeholder cannot work alone, we should work together."

IOA will send a contingent of 227 athletes to the CWG, Batra said during the event.

"We have left no stone unturned in providing the athletes the best facilities with the best resources. The planning has been done by the federation, sportspersons themselves and the coaches," he said.

"We were not just providing funding for their training, we went a step ahead by providing Rs 50,000 per month pocket allowance so that they do not have to look over the shoulders of their parents for other requirements."

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)