Ahead of busy 2026, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya asks SAI to fix targets and tackle doping strongly

In what promises to be a crucial and busy year for India's athletes, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya has asked top SAI officials to set "delivery targets", come up with ideas to improve the country's sporting ecosystem, and address the menace of doping on a war footing.

With the Commonwealth and Asian Games headlining a year that has its fair share of world and continental championships as well, 2026 would set the ball rolling for Olympic qualification process in shooting, and hockey.

Mandaviya held the meeting with top officials of SAI (Sports Authority of India) and Ministry on Thursday to chart out the annual plan.

His focus was on starting the work on his ambitious plan of having dedicated Olympic Centres for every sport across the country, besides ensuring the start of national leagues in at least five new sports.

"He stressed on setting priorities for the year and asked officers to have delivery targets. He plans to have meeting with Deputy Director level officers every 15 days and take ideas from them to improve the sports ecosystem," a ministry source told PTI.

"Starting national leagues in five new sports this year is also a major target. Federations will be encouraged and Ministry will extend financial support for these leagues," he added.

India, which would be hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad and also bidding to bring the 2036 Olympics to the same city, is a country with a poor record in doping.

The nation has topped the list of countries with most doping violators in the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) annual testing figures for three years continuously.

So, it was hardly surprise that Mandaviya stressed on the need to address the menace.

"SAI and NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) have been told to carry out aggressive awareness campaigns and if there are violators even after that, they have to be dealt with strict action," the source said..

Mandaviya, it is learnt, is also keen on more private sports academies with support from the Ministry in terms of components such as sports science and trainers.