'Neither SAI nor state departments have a dedicated sports administration service. Instead, roles are filled by generalist civil servants or contractual staff, often lacking sector-specific expertise.'
The change at the helm comes in the wake of an underwhelming couple of years for Indian men's boxing.
Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra had an additional plea for the government -- to fast-track the process of laying down the currently in-vogue 'Mondotrack' at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala.
Nikhat, who recently won a silver medal at the Elite Women's Boxing Tournament 2025, is bolstering her preparations and hopes to make India proud by clinching a medal.
The Neeraj Chopra Classic, a star-studded global javelin event featuring double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, will be held in Panchkula on May 24.
Athletics and boxing are the two important disciplines whose national camps are being held at NIS, Patiala.
Business conglomerate Reliance has acquired NIS Sparta, a leading performance enhancement solutions organisation. The size of the acquisition which took place on July 1, was not available.
Confined to their hostel rooms at NIS Patiala amid the coronavirus-forced lockdown, some athletes, led by star sprinter Hima Das, have requested the sports ministry to allow them to train outdoors within the campus, which is out of bounds for outsiders right now. Deputy chief national athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair, who is supporting the move, said that the Hima-led campers at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) are expecting a reply from the ministry in a day or two.
30 sportspersons and support staff across disciplines were found to be COVID-19 positive after 741 precautionary tests were conducted at the National Centres of Excellence in Patiala and Bengaluru, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said on Wednesday.
Former medical officer of NIS Patiala, Dr Sanjib Nandi was on Wednesday physically assaulted by guards as he tried to enter the institution premises to meet Justice Mukul Mudgal, who is probing the doping scandal in athletics. Nandi, who blew the whistle on doping practices at NIS Patiala, wanted to meet Justice Mudgal but was stopped by the guards at the gates this morning and refused entry.
The National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) conducted a surprise raid at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala and took samples from the campers in the backdrop of the doping scandal in athletics.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist weightlifter Achinta Sheuli has been expelled from the Paris Olympics preparatory camp after he was caught entering the women's hostel at night at NIS Patiala.
A 19-year-old weightlifter has been suspended by the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) for allegedly harassing three junior women weightlifters at the NIS, Patiala.
Taking note of the 'indigent circumstances' in which former athlete Santhi Soundarajan has been living, the Sports Ministry has sanctioned an assistance of Rs 60,500 to fund her NIS Diploma Course at the SAI Centre in Bengalore.
The National Institute of Sports on Sunday rejected expelled boxer Ram Singh's claim that he and Olympic medallist Vijender Singh had taken drugs mistaking them for "food supplements", saying the NIS has a well laid out system on food supplements for sportspersons.
Automaker Fiat India on Monday said it has tied up with NIS Sparta, a leading consulting and training organisation in customer relationship management, the latest in a series of steps taken to enhance customer service.
Here's a look at some Indian-origin athletes who will be representing their adopted countries at the Paris Games
The four-day selection trials began on Wednesday at NIS Patiala and SAI Regional Centre in Sonepat under the chairmanship of ad hoc panel member Bhupinder Singh Bajwa.
Mirabai Chanu is an inspiration to many athletes but to Gyaneshwari Yadav she is also a competitor and the promising weightlifter dreams of not just scaling great heights like the Tokyo Olympic medallist but leaving her behind.
Incidentally, all three pugilists are currently embroiled in court case with the BFI over selection for the Asian Games.
The daughter of a traffic police head constable in Meerut, Kiran Baliyan was an accidental shot putter as her name was entered in a junior tournament by mistake nine years ago.
Bhaskar Bhatt has quit as the head coach of the Indian women's boxing team to concentrate on his new role as the high performance director at the Sports Authority of India.
India's sprinter Hima Das, who is making a comeback from a hamstring injury, on Wednesday revealed that she has tested positive for COVID-19 but is stable in isolation.
Pravin Sawant now hopes his archery training academy, built on one-acre sugarcane farmland, will finally get due recognition, after producing India's two world champions Aditi Swami and Ojas Deotale.
Bajrang Punia said they were ready to sacrifice medals as delivering justice to the victims would be their biggest medal.
He also said that "in some way or the other," his preparations for Paris Olympics will be different, though he did not elaborate.
Shot putter Karanveer Singh will be pulled out of the Indian team for the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok starting next week.
I keep a licensed revolver with me always in my car, there are some personal issues with someone which I don't want to disclose, said boxer Neeraj Goyat.
Neeraj Chopra has been told by the SAI to stay at his hostel room without mixing up with other athletes at the NIS if he has to be at the premier sports facility of the country. He returned to India from Turkey on Wednesday.
The trials for the wrestling World Championships will be held on August 25-26 in Patiala, the ad-hoc panel announced on Monday, ending weeks of uncertainty around the selection competition.
Tokyo-bound AFI medical commission chairman AK Mendiratta dies of COVID-19.
The son of a financially constrained tailor in Srinagar, Adil Altaf blazed to glory in the Boys 70km road race on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Chopra, who had won an Olympic gold with a throw of 87.58m, had said that his next target would be to win a medal in the World Championships in the US next year.
'We don't know the cause of death. We will know it later after post mortem'
Kabaddi players participating in an event in UP's Saharanpur were seen with plates and containers having rice inside a toilet.
The Indian boxing team, which landed in Birmingham on Monday, wasted no time as they immediately started their practice for the mega-event.
Under the 'No Needle Policy' of the AFI, "any athlete and or support staff who finds any needle or suspect equipment in any athlete's room is required to report the suspicious material including needles immediately to the AFI Medical Commission, which in turn will initiate a thorough investigation into the discovery of suspicious equipment including needles and further disciplinary action taken as deemed necessary".
Renowned athletics coach O M Nambiar, who nurtured Indian athletics great P T Usha, passed away in Kozhikode on Thursday due to age-related illness. He was 89.
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