Sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Monday urged the sportspersons to play by the rules of the game to win and be good ambassadors for the country.

Speaking at a function organised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), the minister opined that “We do not want to win at any cost. We need to show self-discipline, be it players, managers, everyone. We will win fairly.”

Asserting that his ministry is working for the upliftment and broadcasting the sport in the country from grassroots to elite level, he maintained the government’s stand to make equal contribution to the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).

“It is a federal fund. So, whenever anyone puts money into it, it gets doubled, as the government puts equal money. The company that puts the money into the fund, can tell where the money can be used, geographically, which athlete, or which sport.”

Earlier, the sports minister along with leading sportspersons unveiled an impressive set of ceremonial and sports attire for the Commonwealth Games, along with the sponsors.

Olympians and internationals, including HS Prannoy, Jitu Rai, Harpreet Singh, Rani Rampal, Rupinderpal Singh, Sarita Punia, Manu Baker, Annu Raj Singh, Anish Bhanwala along with gymnasts Dipa Karmakar, Pranita Das, Mohd. Bobby and Gaurav Kumar sported the tracksuits designed for the Indian contingent for the Commonwealth Games.

With Edelweiss offering sponsorship, apart from an insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh to each athlete, the IOA will take care of the expenses of 227-member strong contingent apart from officials, to Gold Coast, Australia, for the Commonwealth Games.

Edelweiss also assured its support to the Indian contingent for the Asian Games later in the season and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, along with the National Games for two years.

The Chairman of Edelweiss Group, Rashesh Shah, said that he was “overwhelmed and overawed” by the energetic words of the Sports Minister. “Athletes are healthy and we will help them manage their long-term wealth”,

The IOA president, Narinder Batra, said that IOA would continue to strive to be self-sufficient and independent, but hastened to add, “We will take grant from government. Except cricket, no other sport can survive without government support.”

Meanwhile, the IOA and sports minister promised that they will do everything possible to prevent shooting being scrapped from the Games from 2022 edition.

“We are trying to persuade the Birmingham organisers to include shooting in the CWG,” Rathore said, adding, “The matter is still under discussion while IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta said that “At the CWG Federation meet in the first week of April, we will push for this. We are definitely concerned for this.”

Shooters have won big for India in every CWG since 1978, they have won 114 of 438 CWG medals for India or 26% of India’s total medal tally.

Olympian Jitu Rai, who won gold in 2014 Glasgow Games, expressed his unhappiness saying, “Many shooting events have been removed, particularly the 50m events in pistol and rifle. That is not good news. I have also heard that shooting on the whole won’t feature in the 2022 games, however, there may still be some hope.”

Though the Commonwealth Games Federation (CWGF) in its meeting last week announced the scrapping of shooting events for the 2022 edition, an agency report quoting Federation CEO David Grevembergs said the sport has not been “scrapped” from the 2022 Commonwealth Games,.

He, however, added, “The CGF wishes to clarify that shooting is, and always has been, an optional sport which a Commonwealth Games Host City has the choice to include on its Sports Programme should it so wish, and if it feels the sport is in line with its transformative ambitions for the Games,”

On the other hand Olympian Dipa Karmarkar, who will not be competing in the Commonwealth Games, expressed confidence about a good performance by fellow gymnasts, as the season started on a bright note with the World Cup medal through Aruna Reddy.

“I am very happy with her medal. It was a very good performance. I trained with her since 2011 and we were roommates between 2014 to 2017,” Dipa said.

“I am a bit sorry as I will not be there at the CWG. I had won a bronze at the Glasgow Games (2014 CWG). I have started training. I am very happy with the way the recovery process took place. My target is to do well at the Asian Games. I don’t have any specific targets.”

“I hope she can win gold at the CWG. There are others, also like Pranati Nayak who can do well in Gold Coast,” Dipa added.