Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore [VM]

Mangalore, Jan 26: The City is likely to get a Sports Authority of India (SAI) Training Centre and thus will become the third city in Karnataka to have such a full-fledged institute after Madikeri and Dharwad.

Apart from this, the upgradation of the Mangala Stadium and establishment of two sports hostels in City with an estimated amount of Rs 6 crore will be a reality soon. 

The SAI executive director M P Ganesh at a press conference in City announced this on Wednesday. Ganesh was on his visit to City with a team of officials representing SAI .

Team has inspected the present condition of the Mangala Stadium at the backdrop of the assurance given by Union Sports Minister Oscar Fernandes to upgrade the stadium into international standards.

"We have discussed the related issues with the deputy commissioner today morning and chalked out a sketch with the concerned authorities. We will be submitting  a proposal to the Central government and as soon as the government gives its nod the project will commence," said Ganesh.

As on now, the condition of Mangala Stadium is much lower than the average ones and it is insufficient for the athletes to carry on their practice. The city should have a well managed stadium that has given over 27 athletes to the international sports arena, he observed.

There is already one sports hostel but other students occupy it also. We have requested them to vacate the hostel by the end of the present academic year. Two more hostels, for men and women, will be built with the capacity of 150 beds each, he explained.

The works for laying synthetic track and having an indoor volleyball court as well as weight lifting centre will also commence with the approval of the government. We have asked the district administration to handover the stadium to SAI to carry out the works, Ganesh stated.