Sunil Dutt (top) and Suresh Kalmadi

Guwahati, Oct. 22: The Assam Olympic Association (AOA) has postponed the much-delayed annual Olympic Day Run because the chief guests, Union sports minister Sunil Dutt and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi, cannot attend the event before mid-November.

What can be described as a smart move by the AOA, the association is waiting for the Asean Car Rally, to be flagged off in November from Nehru Stadium here. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sports minister Dutt and IOA president Kalmadi are likely to be here for the rally and the AOA may persuade the dignitaries to flag off the Olympic Day Run on November 22.

The general secretary of AOA, Mukut Medhi, said the two Congress parliamentarians were preoccupied with the Assembly election in three states and bypolls in several others. The election process will be over by mid-November. ?We can organise the run in the morning of November 22 when the Prime Minister, Dutt and Kalmadi will be here. A number of top sports ministry officials will be here on that particular day.?

Apart from adding sheen to the run, the AOA wants Dutt and Kalmadi to take stock the projects for the 33rd National Games.

The run, normally organised within a week from Olympic Day (June 23) in accordance with International Olympic Council rules, has been deferred because Kalmadi was not available. The IOA president was busy with government formation at the Centre in June and then with the Athens Olympics.

The run was again postponed from July to August because of the summer holidays in schools. The AOA?s hands were tied because without the schoolchildren, who make up the bulk of the runners, it cannot achieve the target of 15,000 participants in the central run here.

More than 10,000 runners ran in the event on July 12 last year. It was flagged off by retired international athlete Jyotirmoyee Sikdar from Chandmari flyover and ended at the Nehru Stadium. This time, the run will start from Bishnu Rabha flyover in Ganeshguri and culminate at Nehru Stadium.

The AOA has proposed to organise the run in every district and subdivisional headquarters for the first time to create awareness about the National Games. However, its plans could be shelved at the last minute if the cash-strapped association failed to generate funds for organising the event in a bigger way. It needs an estimated Rs 15 lakh to organise the event.

Medhi said the AOA was not sitting idle and has approached an oil giant and a leading construction company for sponsorship. ?Both companies have given us a positive response,? he said.

The association has also planned to kickstart its fund-raising drive for the National Games on the day of the run. The drive includes collection of donation from well-wishers, students and others and through a game of lottery.

The AOA will have to raise at least Rs 50 crore within a year for organising the Games in November next year.

On being asked if it was advisable to organise the run with an inflated budget when the AOA has yet to clear last year?s debts, Medhi said it was necessary in view of the Games.

Last year, the association spent approximately Rs 12 lakh to organise the event.