Hours after the messed up state of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium following a two-day concert by singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh triggered outrage, its owner, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), said that the iconic venue has been cleaned up and is ready to host its next sporting engagement on October 31. Widespread littering at the end of Dosanjh’s ‘Dil-Luminati’ concert on Saturday and Sunday, that drew nearly 40,000 fans each night, led to sharp criticism from Delhi-based athletes who regularly train at the stadium.
It wasn’t the first time that such an event was held at the venue, which has hosted concerts by top international stars such as Bryan Adams (2004) and Ricky Martin (1998) in the past. But the after-effects of Dosanjh’s gig were heavily criticised by the athletes.
SAI sprung into action once the criticism went viral across social media and issued a statement to say that the competition area and its surroundings have been restored.
“The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Main Arena will be in top shape to host the Indian Super League (ISL) football match between Punjab FC and Chennaiyin FC on October 31, 2024 (Thursday). The turf has been restored to match playing condition before the Diwali game,” the SAI stated along with pictures of the restored venue.
Earlier, Delhi’s middle-distance runner Beant Singh posted images and a video of the stadium’s track and field area which was littered with garbage, alcohol containers and damaged athletics equipment.
“This is where athletes train, but here people had alcohol, danced and partied. Because of these kind of things, the stadium will remain close for 10-10 days. The athletics equipment like the hurdles have been broken and thrown here and there,” he wrote on the Instagram.
“This is the situation of sport, sportspersons and stadium in India…medals do not come in the Olympics because there is no respect and support for sportspersons in this country.” The 25-year-old Singh had won a silver and a bronze in the 2014 and 2018 National Open Championships respectively.
The SAI, on its part, said that its contract with the concert organisers was very clear — the stadium would be returned to the body in the “same condition that it was handed over to them.” “The organisers of Diljit Dosanjh’s concert had booked the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium till October 28, 2024 for cleaning at full rental charges,” it stated.
A Delhi coach told PTI that some athletes have written to the SAI, requesting for compensation as their hurdles and boxes containing starting blocks and other equipment such as shot put, discus and medicine balls have been damaged.
“Each hurdle costs Rs 3000-4000 and you need 10 hurdles for 400m hurdles, or 100m hurdles or 110m hurdles race. These young athletes have arranged money to buy these equipment and it is not easy for them.
“The locks of the boxes containing starting blocks and other equipment such as shot put, discus and medicine balls have been damaged and broken. So, some equipment have been damaged,” the coach said on condition of anonymity.
“So, the athletes have written to the SAI for compensation and let us see what happens.” He said the athletes have been told not to train inside the stadium till October 31.
“They will not been able to train inside the stadium tracks for 10 days till October 31. We are doing training at the outside track but the condition is not good there.
“It has disturbed the training schedule of the athletes. We have the National Junior Championships and national school competition coming up.” This is not the first time that the JLN Stadium has been left in such a messy condition after public functions attended by large crowds.
“Athletes who train here have voiced their disappointment in the past also but nothing has changed,” said a track and field athlete from Delhi on conditions of anonymity.
Currently, the stadium is not hosting any national camp. It is, however, part of the ‘Come and Play’ scheme of SAI, which allows children and beginners to use the stadium’s facilities free of cost for training purposes.
The venue was constructed to hold the athletics competitions of the 1982 Asian Games. It was renovated for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and both the opening and closing ceremonies of that showpiece were held here.
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