The bid to host the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship, 2017 commenced on Monday with Jharkhand Athletics Association (JAA) making the presentation of the games to the Sports department officials.
The move followed Athletics Federation of India (AFI) Secretary CK Valson’s mail on July 15, to JAA president Madhu Kant Pathak regarding ‘bid’ of two competitions, including 22nd Asian Athletics meet and 2nd Asian Youth Athletics Championships.
The mail stated: “If your State is interested in conducting any of the two Asian Athletics Championships, kindly confirm. The guarantee from your State Government and your state association along with bank draft of money as asked by Asian Athletics Association (AAA) as bid amount must reach AFI Office by August 15.”
JAA promptly knocked the doors of the Sports department. The State Government would perform the role of a host with the technical support of the State athletics association.
Sports Secretary Avinash Kumar asked Pathak about the tangible and intangible benefits of the games after the presentation. Pathak said that by conducting camps, improving the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium and providing a foreign coach, Jharkhand players may get selected in the India team participating for the meet. City branding and hiring a reputed broadcast channel are the intangible benefits.
A budget of around `87,672,000 is required for hosting the game covering all types of arrangements. The State Government is supposed to finance it. Sports Director Anil Kumar Singh said, “We will discuss about the plan with Sports Minister Amar Kumar Bauri. The final decision is in the hands of Chief Minister (CM) Raghubar Das since he is the Chairman of the Organising Committee. The budget is likely to be sanctioned by the Cabinet.”
Meanwhile, Pathak said the bidding amount of `13 lakh has to be submitted to the AAA by August 15. “If our proposal is rejected, AFI will retain 20 percent of the submitted amount and return the remaining amount,” he said.
Athletes from as many as 45 nations namely Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, laos, lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-leste, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen would contest the tournament.
Among the popular athletics tournaments, Jharkhand had hosted 34th National Games in 2011 and 2nd SAF Junior Athletics Championship in 2013. Overall 13 National Athletics meets have been held in the past five years. Junior East Zone Athletics Championship is scheduled at Deoghar in September. Junior National Athletics Championship will be held in November.