Kerala to launch 'Operation Olympia': set up Football Academy

Kochi, July 2 (UNI) The Kerala Government will launch ''Operation Olympia'' to promote grassroots participation football and produce outstanding players for the world arena, State Sports and Youth Affairs Minister M Vijay Kumar said today.

Talking to newspersons here Mr Vijay Kumar also announced the Government decision to set up a 'Football Academy' and a new package to promote the game. Under this, the state-level football clubs will be given Rs 20 lakh while the national-level clubs will be given Rs 50 lakh.

The minister also announced a Rs three crore allocation for promoting athletics. A Rs 15 lakh grant had already been announced in the state budget for the P T Usha School of Athletics in Kozhikode, he said.

Accusing the previous UDF Government of ''criminal negligence'' of sports, Mr Vijay Kumar said the sports councils in the state had become defunct and the comprehensive sports policy introduced in 2000 had not been implemented.

Stating that sports should form an integral part of the educational curriculum, the minister said that the Government wanted to promote ''sports for all''.

To this end, the government will launch an ''Operation Olympia'' for the promotion of sports down to the grassroots level. ''We are hopeful that the initiative will yield results and we will produce outstanding sportspersons for the world arena in the next ten years,'' he added.

Stressing on the decentralisation of sports bodies, he said sports councils will be formed down to the panchayat level.

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