Mann visits deceased player's family in Rohtak, demands nationwide inspection of sports infra

Chandigarh, Nov 27 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said that the Centre should order a thorough inspection of infrastructure in all sports complexes around the country, following the deaths of two youths in the collapse of rusted iron poles in basketball courts.

Two basketball players in their teens died in Haryana in a similar accident, when iron poles holding hoops in basketball courts collapsed on them. While 16-year-old Hardik Rathi, who had taken part in the national sub-junior basketball championship, died in Rohtak on Tuesday, 15-year-old Aman, who was injured in Bahadurgarh, breathed his last during treatment at PGIMS Rohtak on Monday.

Mann, who visited 16-year-old Hardik Rathi's family in Rohtak's Lakhan Majra and later also went to the ground where the basketball pole fell, said the Union sports minister should take cognisance of the incidents.

"India's sports minister should take cognisance of these incidents. In the entire country, where infrastructure is unsafe, these should be inspected," Mann said.

The Punjab chief minister, who was accompanied by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Haryana unit chief Sushil Gupta and party leader Anurag Dhanda, said the inspection was necessary to ensure the safety and security of players as well as when India has been formally awarded hosting rights of the 2030 Commonwealth Games.

The sports infrastructure in the entire country should be checked, he said, adding the sports ministry should seek a detailed report from states including Punjab about the condition of the sports infrastructure.

Speaking to reporters in Rohtak, Mann, while talking about Hardik, said, "He had gone to the ground to practice for an upcoming national tournament. The pole fell on him and he died. In the entire country, players are shocked and are in disbelief that if this kind of sports infrastructure is there, then what will happen... the basketball pole falls because of its poor condition." Responding to questions, Mann repeatedly asserted that he had not come to Rohtak to play politics, but he was here as a sports lover.

"I am myself a sports lover and also hold the sports portfolio. We watch the NBA league and follow the premier basketball league in which players as tall as seven feet and having well-built physiques participate. Players like (American professional basketball player) LeBron James also hang from the pole ring but no untoward incident takes place there like the ones which happened here (Rohtak and Bahadurgarh)," he said.

Mann asked, "If children from ordinary families go to the sports ground, will they return dead from the sports field? Who is responsible? Who will then send their children to the sports ground?" The AAP leader said Haryana publicises so much that youth should be encouraged to take up sports, "but will such incidents inspire them? I have a list of this (Lakhan Majra) village and it has contributed more than 47 players, in which many have participated in international and national sports events".

He asked what can be a bigger insecurity than parents worrying whether their children will safely return from sportsg rounds or not.

"Now, India will host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. During the previous Commonwealth Games, we had to face embarrassment when things like leakage in swimming pools came to the fore. If such examples are there even today, so will we be able to become 'Vishwaguru'?" he said.

"Within two days, we lost such talented players, because basketball poles fell. Is this their (Haryana's) good sports policy?" he asked.

Pointing towards Hardik's father Sandeep Rathi, who was standing behind him, Mann said, "Ask this father, who has lost his son, about the sports policy." Told that there have been a couple of incidents in Punjab too earlier where kabaddi players were murdered, Mann quipped saying that was a law and order issue.

Referring to the Rohtak incident, he said he is not doing any politics over it. "Can I not come here? I am a sports lover.

"I even spoke with the (Haryana) chief minister yesterday telling him that I will be visiting. Where does the question of doing politics arise? There are other platforms to do politics," he said. PTI SUN KSS KSS