Indian players to lose on home advantage: Malhotra

Delay in the completion of the the Commonwealth Games venues will rob the Indian athletes of the crucial home advantage as the players are losing out on getting a hang of the stadiums, Archery Association of India President V K Malhotra said on Tuesday.

"Our sportspersons are losing valuable practice time. We are losing the advantage of being the host nation of the Delhi Games," Malhotra, also a BJP leader, told reporters.

"Every host nation provides its sportspersons the venue facilities at least a year in advance but here despite spending billions of rupees on the Games' infrastructure our athletes are not been able to take advantage of it," he said.

Malhotra said it would be quite embarrassing for India as hosts if they would not improve on their Melbourne Games performance, when they won 49 medals including 22 golds.

"We have raised peoples' expectations and now if we do not finish first or second in the medal tally it will be very embarrassing for the government and the sports federations," said Malhotra, also a senior vice-President of Indian Olympic Association.

"We finished creditable fourth in both Manchester (2002) and Melbourne (2006) without spending so much of money and if now do not improve our tally at home, then the people will raise the question regarding the very purpose of hosting it," he added.

Malhotra also alleged that delay in completion of the venues like Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and S P Mukherjee swimming pool was also creating corruption problems.

"These are two main venues of the Games. The delay is not only creating concern but breeding corruption as well. I also urge the government to raise the prize money for the medal winners as it should be higher than what the winners got in 2002. If government spends billions on infrastructure then why it is hesitating on giving a few crore to the sportspersons?"

The sports administrator also opposed the idea of a paid brand ambassador for the CWG and said, "None should get paid in the name of brand ambassador of the Games. But they are always welcome if they want to do it for the country."

Malhotra also demanded that the government withdraw its "ill conceived" tenure-guidelines. "Nobody is accepting them. The badminton and swimming federations have held their elections without bothering about these guidelines," Malhotra said.

The Sports Ministry wants to fix the tenure of presidents of IOA and the National Sports Federations at 12 years with or without break.

The secretary generals and the treasurers' tenure were fixed at eight years at a stretch by the ministry regulations, which also advocates a retirement age of 70.