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Friday April 13, 2007

India’s sports minister slams New Delhi bid

NEW DELHI: India’s Olympic chiefs said yesterday they were confident of securing the 2014 Asian Games despite a dissenting note from the country’s sports minister.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) will meet in Kuwait on Tuesday to choose a winner between New Delhi and the South Korean city of Incheon as the host city of the Games.

Indian Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer was quoted by local media as saying that hosting major sporting events – like the 2010 Commonwealth Games which have been allotted to New Delhi – held no relevance to the common man.

“Whether you organise the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi or in Melbourne, the state of people living in colonies right opposite the Games site will remain the same,” the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Aiyer as telling a business seminar in the Indian capital.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials distanced themselves from Aiyar’s remarks, saying they were confident that New Delhi’s bid would be accepted.

“It is time the Asian Games return to India,” IOA president Suresh Kalmadi told reporters before heading for the OCA meeting starting on Sunday. – AFP

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