Coaches fume after ‘equipment damaged’ ahead of Dosanjh concert at JLN

New Delhi: Athletes training at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium are bearing the brunt of Diljit Dosanjh’s concert at the venue. Their training at the main stadium has been stalled for the last ten days as the organisers were preparing the stage, which is being put up on the track.

On Friday evening, hurdles and other equipment were allegedly damaged as the organisers took over the entire venue ahead of the two-day concert starting Saturday. Coaches said the hurdles belonging to athletes, which are kept near the warm up area, were damaged.

“These hurdles and other equipment belong to the athletes who bought them with their own money. It is not SAI’s equipment. We stack them in rows near the warm up area. In the evening, the stadium was closed due to the concert and then we saw that the equipment was flung to a side and locks broken,” said a Delhi coach. “We will lodge a complaint with SAI. The organisers should pay for this damage. Is this the way to organise an event?” he added.

The JLN Stadium, one of the top athletics stadiums in the country, is run by the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Athletes from nearby areas of the National Capital Region, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana also come to train here. Many stay in rented accommodations nearby.

Coaches say there are several disruptions in training of athletes during winter season as some areas of the stadium premises are often rented out by SAI for hosting events and festivals, according to people aware of the development.

“So many events are being organised by private parties in the stadium which SAI gives in the name of public-private partnership. Eventually it seems athletes and competitions are last in priority list,” said an official.

For the Dosanjh concert, the main track of the stadium has been closed for more than a week.

“The state athletes were preparing for the Junior National Championships and they were asked to do their training in the warm up area,” said another coach. The Junior Championship was eventually postponed due to a cyclone in Odisha but state and national level athletes are preparing ahead of a busy season.