Invitation for perfect show

Jamshedpur, May 2: The delay in finalisation of dates for the National Games and numerous logistical problems in the run-up to the mega event notwithstanding, the Jharkhand Olympic Association has decided to send invites to its counterparts in other states for participation in the meet.

If JOA officials are to be believed, according to the procedure, the invites have to be sent long before to all the respective state Olympic associations and the entire process would be initiated by June 1. At the same time, invites would also be sent to all the organisations like the Services and others for the event.

With different complexities developing each day in the run-up to the event and the dates still not finalised, the JOA officials are of the opinion that these aspects need to be sorted as early as possible so that there are no bottlenecks when the event is nearer.

JOA general secretary S.M. Hashmi said: “From June 1, we will start writing letters to each and every state Olympic association so that they can send the names of the participants and we have a total list of them by the time the Games draws nearer. This would help us in planning the entire thing smoothly,” said Hashmi.

Apart from being the formal procedure, JOA senior functionaries maintained that getting the names of the entries as well as the technical officials who would come to the three cities— Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad where different sports disciplines are scheduled to take place — would also help in making arrangements beforehand.

There was an utter chaos as far as these aspects are concerned at the Guwahati National Games.

There were participants pouring till the last minute and the officials were kept busy in accommodating them. The same thing happened with the equipment as well, senior JOA officials added.

All this comes after the JOA officials also requested the Indian Olympic Association functionaries to ask all the respective sports federations to give a detailed list of all those who would be participating in the event.

Delay in procurement of equipment notwithstanding, the Jharkhand Olympic Association officials also seemed to be confident about the procurement of equipment for different sports disciplines on time.

They maintained that after the Guwahati episode, where the equipment kept on pouring in at the last moment, Jharkhand would be a step ahead of that.