Kolkata: Rooting out corrupt practices from the state sports arena and bringing glory to Bengal were his main tasks now, said Indranil Khan, after becoming the minister of state (independent charge) for sports and youth affairs and consumer affairs departments on Wednesday. He said nepotism and syndicates at Maidan clubs had to end.Pointing out how the case in the Messi incident fiasco in Dec last year was now reopened, Khan said proper attention would have to be given to sports management. “DriTrinamool era, merit in whichever field, including sports, took a backseat, and now the job will be promoting talented sportsmen—so they can bring laurels for the state and achieve success in international arenas. Young talents are to be promoted through organizing regular meets, as it will inspire the youngsters to perform better.”Khan said, “Even in football, our state players are to be encouraged so they can don the Indian tricolour, and ultimately, India can play World Cup matches. We need to see that Bengal’s footballers are not deprived or forced to shift to some other states. Our main task is to take Bengal’s sportsmen to the international level. The state government’s primary goal is to provide world-class training and top-notch infrastructure support to help state athletes compete on international stages like the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, and for which we would like to have tie-ups with SAI. Our sportsmen have great potential, which needs to be showcased at global forums, and for which the state will provide all facilities and will facilitate by all means.”He said that even the youths had been turned into migrants by the previous Trinamool govt, so it is time to check it.
