Former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha on Saturday welcomed the Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju's decision of extending the coaches tenure by four years and removing the salary cap of Rs two lakh for the Indian coaches training elite athletes.
"Great work @Media_SAI & @KirenRijiju for 2 great decisions in the last 3 days- 4 yr tenure & removal of Rs. 2 lakh salary cap for Indian coaches. This was part of our @OlympicTF recommendations in our report submitted in 2017. Ball in court of Indian coaches to up their game now," Rasquinha tweeted.
Rijiju said the contract of all Indian coaches will be drawn up for four years, like foreign coaches, to ensure that elite athletes training under Indian coaches have continuity of coaching in one Olympic cycle.
"The increased remuneration and longer contract period is also to attract ex-elite athletes into the high performance sporting ecosystem, and to use their experience and skill to train athletes bound for major international competitions, including the Olympics," a ministry release stated.
Eminent coaches already working in various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) would also be allowed to join on deputation and be eligible for the 4-year contract as well as the higher salary structure.
The remuneration will be decided on the basis of the ex-elite athlete's performance as an athlete as well as his or her success as a coach."All new coaches and existing coaches who are given the new contract will be imparting training at National Camps and SAI's National Center of Excellence (NCOEs), and will be selected jointly by the Sports Ministry and the National Sporting Federations," the release said.
( With inputs from ANI )