The Hindu : Sport : CWG: Countdown run on January 6

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CWG: Countdown run on January 6

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Organising Committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games will attempt to provide a thrust to the mega event to be staged in the Capital by signalling the 1000-day countdown with a special run from Vijay Chowk to India Gate on January 6.

The run, with everyone sporting green to show the ‘Green Games’ initiative, will feature Olympians and other sportsmen who have represented the country, apart from people from all walks of life.

Everyone is invited

“We have called our hockey players who have won gold medals, and we are calling sports persons across all the disciplines. If we miss calling some, they are also invited. We will be launching the logo of the Games at the end of the run,” said the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Suresh Kalmadi, at a press conference here on Thursday.

The registration for the run, which will be restricted to 30,000 participants, will close on January 4. Arrangements have been made for registration of the runners at 20 places across the city, including the Nehru Stadium, Chhattrasal Stadium, Yamuna Sports Complex, DTEA School (Mandir Marg), the Metro Stations outside Kashmiri Gate and Connaught Place.

Time for action

“It is time for action. The planning stage is over. The construction has started and the problems are behind us. The underground tunnel suggested from Nehru Stadium to the Games Village has met with opposition. The alternative methods are being studied. Delhi is going to be crowded and hotel accommodation is still a matter of worry. Hopefully it will be sorted out,” said Kalmadi, even as he announced that the competition schedule had already been approved both for the Pune Youth Games next year and the Delhi event in 2010.

“There is tremendous interest for the Youth Games in Pune from October 12 to 18 next year, and all the 71 member countries are expected to take part,” said the IOA President.

Talking about the training of the athletes, Kalmadi said that he was hopeful that the Rs. 660 crore allocated for the preparation of the athletes by the government would soon be put to use through the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

It was also disclosed that the IOA had received Rs. 122 crore so far, of which 70 crore had been given to the Commonwealth Games Federation towards royalty.

Revenue neutral budget

“We will need about 1000 crore to conduct the Games and we are taking that money from the government as an advance. We will be returning it with interest, as we expect revenue through TV rights, merchandising, sale of tickets, sponsorship etc. Ours will be a revenue neutral budget,” said Kalmadi.

It was also mentioned that attempts were being made to avoid the moving of the World Championship in badminton from Delhi to some other city in the country in 2009, by getting the facilities constructed in time to meet the deadline.

Otherwise, all the sporting facilities are supposed to be ready by December 2009, and put to test through world level competitions in many disciplines before the Commonwealth Games.

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