The Second National Sports Congress kicked off in the capital on Friday with an aim to “give continuity to the Olympic Movement and to spread the message of peace and development through sports.’
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the two-day event at Park Village, Buddhanilkantha, Nepal Olympic Committee President Jeevan Ram Shrestha admitted that the sports sector could not develop due to instability and poor infrastructure and it was decided to hold the sports congress to address those concerns.
“The sports sector of Nepal is becoming very much unstable. The physical infrastructures are in poor condition. This is the reason that the standard of sports has not developed,” said NOC President Shrestha during his inauguration speech.
“Therefore, this congress is being organized to self evaluate our weaknesses and to seek solutions,” added Shrestha.
According to Shrestha, the main aim of the sports congress is to seek ways to upgrade the Nepali sports sector. This conference would play an important role to draw the attention of the government at a time when Nepal is preparing to host the 13th South Asian Games in 2019.
“Our target is to successfully host the 13th SAG with improved performance. In the due course of time, we want to improve our level and aim for a historic success in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Shrestha.
The NOC president also stressed on the need to properly manage sports law of the country.
Former sports minister Puroshattam Poudel shared a similar view stating that the sports law of the country is ineffective. He opined that the sports congress would play an important role in identifying the problems and to seek amicable solution.
Meanwhile, NOC President Shrestha informed that the Supreme Court of the country has given recognition to three Olympic committees within the country but only the one headed by himself has got international recognition.
“The Supreme Court hasn’t objected to any of the three Olympic committees to carry out its works. But you have to be able to prove your worth,” said Shrestha.
The sports congress, which will conclude on December 17, in being attended by representatives of 26 sports associations which are in the Olympic Movement and two other sports associations as well as sports authorities, foreign delegates, high ranking police officials.
NOC member Samim Miyan Ansari said that the sports congress is being organized to strengthen the Olympic Movement and for self evaluation of Nepali sports.
“We want to see where we are today and where we want to be in the future,” said Ansari.
Discussions on current sports policy of the government of Nepal, the structure of the Olympic Movement, marketing and sponsor, women empowerment in sports, sports psychology and motivation, Mission 2020, anti-doping, procedure of participating in games, Olympic solidarity program, media and sports, organizing and management of sports events are being held. In addition to that, yoga and motivational movie in sports have also been included in the itinerary.
The last edition of the National Sports Congress was held in 2011 in Godavari, Lalitpur.
