As chief minister A Revanth Reddy eyes an ambitious role for Hyderabad in hosting Levents for the 2036 Olympic Games as part of India’s national bid, the city’s sports infrastructure has come under a sharp audit spotlight.A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) inspection of Sports Authority of India (SAI) facilities between Dec 2022 and Feb 2023, which was released recently, paints an unflattering picture.At SAI’s Training Centre (STC) in Gachibowli, the archery ground was found littered with waste and choked by thick, high vegetation. Two athletic tracks at Gachibowli Stadium under STC Hyderabad were also found to be worn out and unfit for use.More than three years later, a visit by TOI has found that the issues still exist. At the archery ground, during practice, arrows repeatedly landed in the tall grass, forcing archers to hunt through the vegetation to retrieve them, hardly the standards that are expected of a national-level training facility.The athletics infrastructure is no better. The two synthetic tracks one maintained by the Sports Authority of Telangana (SATG) inside the stadium and the other under SAI remain in poor condition. The surfaces have worn out, with cracks visible at several spots. Waterlogging was also observed at mul-tiple points around both tracks.The CAG had also pulled up SAI over the condition of its hockey turfs, which had developed cracks and shrinking surfaces. Metal wires had been used as a makeshift arrangement to stretch the turf and maintain full playing coverage. The hockey facility, however, has since received a facelift ahead of the recent World Cup qualifiers.OWNERSHIP ARRANGEMENT BLAMEDIn its response in 2025, SAI said the facilities at STC Hyderabad were around 20 years old and in poor condi-tion, but maintained that the fields of plays (FoPs) did not fall under its direct control.“These do not fall under the direct of SAI and the memorandum of understanding with the state govt did not facilitate major investments like re-lay of track,” SAI told CAG.“Further, the FoP areas were occa-sionally rented out for private parties leading to dumping of waste/littering.” SAI added.Equipment lying idleThe CAG audit found that sports, scientific and medical equipment was lying idle or unused at several SAI units. Inadequate space, closure of disciplines, excess procurement or shortage of technical manpowerCAG said equipment worth 1.7cr was lying idle in 12 SAI units and 206 coaches were posted at SAl centres where their services were reportedly not effectively utilisedCAG recommended that SAI rationalise deployment of coaches based on actual availability of infra and athletesHowever, officials said the athlet-ic track will be upgraded within six months. “There is a proposal to upgrade the track in the Gachobowli stadium which is currently under tendering pro-cess, with the renovated track expected to be ready by March next year,” said an official in SATG.No upgrade for 24-yr-old trackAthletes training at Gachibowli say that the condition of the 400-metre synthetic track has been a long-standing problem. According to them, the track was laid nearly 24 years ago and has not undergone a major upgrade sinceDeteriorating track has forced athletes to travel elsewhere even for their routine training. For short-distance running, we had to depend on the Gopichand Academy, while for long-distance training, we had to go to Kokapet, say athletes.Several requests have been made to the govt, and every time we are told that funds have been sanctioned to renovate the track. But nothing has been grounded so far, athletes told TOI.ATHLETE QUOTE:Use of the stadium for pvt events led to stages being installed close to the track, further affecting it. Synthetic tracks require periodic renovation, usually once every five to 10 years, whereas Gachibowli track has not had a major upgrade for over two decades – Agasara Nandini | ASIAN GAMES BRONZE MEDALIST
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