Stadiums to stay open till 10 pm: Delhi govt after track is 'emptied' for IAS officer, dog
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered that all government-run sports stadiums and facilities should be open till 10 am to enable athletes to train, a day after a report in a popular daily narrated the ordeals faced by sportspersons who are asked to leave the Thyagraj Stadium by 6.30-7 pm, so that an IAS officer can walk his dog.
“News reports have brought to our notice that certain sports facilities are being closed early causing inconvenience to sportsmen who wish to play till late nite. CM@ArvindKejriwal has directed that all Delhi Govt sports facilities to stay open for sportsmen till 10 pm,” Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted on Friday attaching a clipping of the report by the Indian Express.
News reports have brought to our notice that certain sports facilities are being closed early causing inconvenience to sportsmen who wish to play till late nite. CM @ArvindKejriwal has directed that all Delhi Govt sports facilities to stay open for sportsmen till 10pm pic.twitter.com/LG7ucovFbZ
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) May 26, 2022
The report said athletes and coaches who practise at the government-run Thyagraj Stadium have complained of being asked to leave the premises before 7 pm, so that Delhi’s Principal Secretary (Revenue) Sanjeev Khirwar could walk his dog inside the stadium for half-an-hour.
The athletes said while earlier they used to train till 8-8.30 pm, now they are being asked to vacate the grounds before 7 pm.
Khirwar has rubbished the allegations while admitting that he does take his dog for a walk in the stadium, but not at the cost of disrupting the practice of athletes.
“I would never ask an athlete to leave the stadium that belongs to them. Even if I visit, I go after the stadium is supposed to close…We don’t leave him (the dog) on the track…when no one is around, we leave him but never at the cost of any athlete. If it’s something objectionable, I will stop it,” he told IE.
Ajit Chaudhary, the stadium’s administrator told IE that even though the stadium should shut down for practice by 4-6 pm, the management has kept it open for athletes till 7 pm, taking into account the heat which makes training difficult during the day. IE said that Chaudhary did not share any official order regarding the timing, while also expressing his ignorance about Khirwar using the premises after 7 pm.
The Indian Express confirmed that athletes indeed were hurried away by 6.30 pm by security inside the stadium and Khirwar reached the ground with his dog after 7.30 pm.
Many of the athletes and coaches said they have switched to Sport’s Authority of India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, just 3 km away from the Thyagraj Stadium, where they can train till 8.30 pm.
