Haryana government fails to promote sports: Chautala

CHANDIGARH: In a scathing attack, Abhey Singh Chautala, president of the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) and the Haryana Olympic Association, Thursday accused the Haryana government of doing nothing to promote sports in the state.

"For the last three and a half years, the present government has not done anything for the betterment of any sport, and whenever we tried to do this government has undone it," Chautala told reporters.

"The government has talked about various sports policies and construction of new stadiums in the state but everything is only on paper," he said.

Chautala particularly targeted Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, saying "he has not done anything to uplift the stature of boxing".

From India, Haryana contributed the highest number of players to the Beijing Olympics, he said.

Chautala said the Indian Boxing Federation had plans to poularise boxing on the lines of cricket in India. "We will take this sport to the metro cities and conduct regular tournaments in big towns."

Prize money and other benefits will be increased to bring in the best possible talent in boxing. Leading companies like DLF and Reliance group were ready to sponsor such events, he said.