PSUs beat pvt firms in sponsorship

Prasar Bharti gets exclusive rights for the 4th Military World Games, while Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd clinches sponsorship deal.

Even as the sports fraternity across the world is honing its skills for the 4th Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) Military World Games (MWG), a battle outside the arena has already been won.

Public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the country have outplayed private players by bagging the sponsorship rights for the sporting extravaganza, scheduled to begin in Hyderabad and Mumbai from October 14. This year, 108 countries are participating in the games in 13 disciplines.

Around 20 companies had approached for the sponsorship of the MWG but Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) was the first to clinch a sponsorship deal, paving way for other PSUs to follow suit.

"By the time private players approached us it was too late, as the sponsorship deals had already been bagged by some PSUs, aggregating to around Rs 30 crore," DJ Narayan, vice-chairman, MWG media committee, said.

"MWG is an altogether different ball game, and it took time for private firms to understand the concept, evaluate the viability and jump to a conclusion. In the meantime, the PSUs breasted the finishing line, leaving the private corporate world way behind," he added.

The sponsorship initiative, propelled by state-owned HAL, was followed by Bharat Electronics Ltd, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, Canara Bank and some defence PSUs.

"We are not looking at mere revenues through this event. Our aim is to bring laurels to the country by proving its mettle in the world of sports. The event would cost around Rs 150 crore, including Rs 60 crore, allocated by the central government," Narayan said.

The eight-day sports event will see around 4,588 athletes vying for top honours in 15 state-of-the-art venues in the two cities. The state governments expect the sports event to attract around 1 million spectators.

The MWG committee had discussion with various television channels regarding live telecast of the fourth edition of the games.

"However, we finally zeroed in on Prasar Bharti and gave it the exclusive rights. It will telecast the opening and closing ceremonies live on DD-1 and also air the event on DD Sports. Besides, it will provide a two-minute free feed on a daily basis to all the news channels across the country," Narayan added.

CISM, the International Military Sports Council, is the largest authority for military sports activity in the world. It was founded on February 18, 1948, in France with an aim to provide opportunities to the militaries to meet in sports arena instead of battleground and promote "friendship through sports".

The Military World Games are held as a precursor to the Olympics. The first edition of the event was held in Rome in 1995, the second at Zagreb in Croatia in 1999, and the third at Catania, Italy, in 2003.

"The first three games were participated by 93, 82 and 87 countries, respectively, in 17, 20 and 11 disciplines, respectively," said brigadier S Dangwol, chairman of the games' technical conduct committee.

Over 4,000 athletes will vie for 1,076 medals on offer in track and field (76 countries), judo (52), shooting (52), boxing (44), parachuting (38), military pentathlon (30), wrestling (30), swimming (26), sailing (24) and triathlon (20). The two water sports, sailing and triathlon, will be held in Mumbai.

Some of the international athletes include Jowsinet Frederiane of France, a silver medallist at the Athens Olympics in judo, and Gijon Marieluise, who has qualified for participating in triathlon at the Beijing Olympics.

"Around 20 per cent of these athletes have either won laurels at the Athens Olympics and other world championships or have qualified to participate in the Beijing Olympics, scheduled to take place in 2008," Dangwol added.

The Indian contingent for the fourth MWG is 196-member strong and includes the Manchester Commonwealth Games' silver medallist in boxing Som Bahadur Pun and Asia Games medallist in shooting Vijay Kumar.

Dangwol said, "The technical conduct committee expects the team to take the country's medal tally to about 20, as against one bronze bagged during the previous games in Italy in 2003."

"This is the first time that the event is being held outside Europe. Besides this, the fourth edition has many firsts to its credit. One of these is that India has created a world record by executing the preparatory work in a record 23 months, which involved over 15,000 emails and hundreds of committee meetings," Narayan said.

On its behalf, the Andhra Pradesh government has created infrastructure and revamped the existing facilities for the programme.

"The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) has constructed a games village at Gachibowli on the outskirts of the city. While SAAP would accommodate 750 athletes at Gachibowli, the games village constructed by the armed forces at the cantonment would house 3,000 personnel, and the rest would be accommodated at private venues like the Indian School of Business and the National Academy of Construction, besides various city hotels," a SAAP official said.

"The MWG organising committee will pay Rs 10 crore to the state government for using its stadia, conducting cultural activities, and as water and electricity charges," he added.

In the wake of the recent bomb blasts at Hyderabad, elaborate security arrangements have been made by the city police. Around 10,000 police personnel and an equal number of Army men will be deployed for the gala affair.

The 5th edition of the Military World Games will be held in Brazil in 2011.