‘Sports Summit will boost sports’, says Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi: Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju on Monday said the sports summit, to be held on October 10, will do a commendable job in terms of promotion of sports in the country.

"The Sports Summit is going to draw large attention and will generate huge interest among the stakeholders. It will do a commendable job in terms of promotion of sports in the country," said Rijiju.

Rijiju said it is going to be very important for many reasons. "This first-ever sports summit organised in Delhi is going to be very important for many reasons," he said, adding that the CII is organising the summit along with SPORTSCOM and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is supporting the event.

Talking about the importance of the summit, Rijiju said, "We require to create an industry which is resourceful for sports. Any industry without resources will not succeed. Sports need money, money for the promotion of sports, money for creating a career option for the sportsperson and to make sports glamorous."

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Rijiju said that apart from cricket, many sports are important and are popular on a global scale but those do not get the required attention, which is unacceptable.

"More or less, people are confined to cricket. Many other sports are important and popular but these don't get the required attention or importance in India which is unacceptable, especially the Olympic sports must be given due recognition by the society," said Rijiju.

"To make sports sustainable, society as a whole needs to come together and for that, the initiatives of corporates are vital. That is why the Sports summit is being organised," he added. Rijiju is also optimistic about getting Kabaddi included as a discipline in the 2028 Olympics.

"There are other Indian sports, which are important but are not recognised internationally like kho-kho. So, there are many sports which we require to promote," he said.

"My target is, if not 2024 but in the 2028 Olympics, kabaddi has to be in the Olympics and for that, we have to make a big push. I think we will succeed," he said.