Haryana Govt's order on Athletes' earnings put on hold

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday asked the state government to put on hold the order which would require athletes to hand over a third of their earnings to the state.

Taking to his Twitter handle, Khattar said, "I have asked for the relevant file of Sports Department to be shown to me & the notification dated 30th April to be put on hold till further orders.We are proud of the immense contribution by our sportspersons & I assure them of a just consideration of all issues affecting them."

Earlier, the Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs department had asked its sports-persons to deposit one-third of their income earned from professional sports or commercial endorsements to the Haryana State Sports Council.

It further stated that athletes who are employed in any department of the state government or any other government bodies participating in professional sports or commercial endorsements will be accorded extraordinary leave without pay.

22 athletes from the state won medals at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April this year. However, the function to felicitate them was cancelled as the players threatened a walkout over the state government's proposal to take a cut of their prize money.

The order has not gone down well with several athletes, with Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar saying that the policy will affect the morale of sportspersons and might affect their performance as well. He also said that the government should establish a committee of senior sportspersons and take their input before forming a policy of this type.

Meanwhile, another Indian wrestler Babita Phogat hit out at Haryana government's notification by saying that the government does not realize the hard work a sportsperson puts in. She also noted that it seemed like illiterate people are making policies, saying that the athletes already pay taxes on money they win in competitions.