SAI facilities to be free of cost for national, international competitions

New Delhi, March 13 (SocialNews.XYZ) Sports Authority of India (SAI) said on Friday that its facilities will now be available competely free of cost for national and international level competitions. The SAI made the decision at its Governing Body Meet which was held on Friday at its headquarters in New Delhi.

"... it has been approved that not just the rent charges of a facility, but also other incremental costs such as water, electricity and others will be waived off for national competitions and competitions of international level," said SAI in its statement.

Additionally, the governing body also decided that 23 National Centres of Excellence (NCOE) will be set up across the country which "will merge all existing schemes presently operating in the Regional Centres and Academic Institutions of SAI."

"There will be 14 priority sports that will be focused on, in these National Centres of Excellence. The NCOEs will have state-of-the-art Infrastructure, Sports Science Support and Diet as per the requirement of an athlete without monetary ceiling," it said.

The Governing Body also decided to club 21 Special Area Games (SAG) Centres under SAI training centres (STCs). The funding for NCOEs and STCs will be under Khelo India Scheme of the Ministry. However, the salary of coaches and administrative staff will continue to be borne by SAI through block grant.

"In a landmark decision, the GB also approved appointment of more than 350 Sports Science Experts and more than 100 specialized Mess and Kitchen Staff including Chef & Nutritionists in different NCOEs to ensure best quality diet and sports science facilities to all," said SAI.

Source: IANS