The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has reorganised its daily operations, giving the N S Johal-led Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Division responsibility for 27 Olympic sports disciplines. The division has also been asked to handle governance-related issues in national federations whenever directed by the sports ministry.According to an order issued by sports secretary Hari Ranjan Rao, who is also the Director General of SAI, the TOPS division will now serve as the main point of contact between SAI and the respective National Sports Federations (NSFs).Johal, who already heads the Target Asian Games Group (TAGG), will continue to oversee TAGG as a sub-group under TOPS.TOPS was launched in 2014 to support elite athletes with training and competition planning in priority sports such as boxing, badminton and athletics.Under the new structure, TOPS will fully oversee aquatics, archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, skateboarding, sport climbing, squash, surfing, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, weightlifting and wrestling.The order stated that TOPS will act as the “primary interface” between SAI and the respective NSFs, associations and stakeholders for the assigned sports.The division will also deal with governance matters referred by the ministry, along with development proposals and budgeting matters of NSFs linked to these disciplines.TOPS has also been given the responsibility of coordinating India’s participation in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Youth Olympics, Asian Youth Games and Asian Beach Games.The Training of Elite Athletes and Management Support Division (TEAMS), which also comes under Johal, will handle operations related to disciplines outside TOPS, including para sports, winter sports and non-Olympic disciplines.Johal is a former Olympian sailor.The TEAMS division will also coordinate National Sports Awards and functions related to Republic Day, Rashtrapati Bhawan and the Prime Minister’s Office.
