Decision of postponing National Games taken without any discussion with us: IOA president
May 28, 2020
New Delhi [India], May 28 : After the postponement of the 36th National Games, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Dhruv Batra on Thursday said the decision was taken by the Sports Ministry of Goa, without any discussion with IOA.
"This decision of postponement has been taken by sports ministry of Goa, without any discussion with us, we are looking into it now," Batra told ANI.
Earlier, a source within the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) told ANI that the National Games organizing committee decided to postpone the event indefinitely due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country.
"National Games organising committee has decided to postpone National Games due to COVID-19 pandemic. The committee to hold a meeting by September end and decide on fixing dates for the National Games. The government to take advise from Union Sports Ministry, need four months advance notice to organise games," the source had said.
The games were scheduled to take place from October 20 to November 4 in Goa.
With 6,566 more coronavirus cases and 194 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally reached 1,58,333 on Thursday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The number of active coronavirus cases stands at 86,110, while 67,692 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. The death toll due to the infection has reached 4,531 in the country.
