After the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was left in a state of disarray following a music concert, the Asian Games medallist athlete called for a ban on holding concerts or any programme in the stadiums, which are a “sacred place” for the athletes. The stadium had hosted Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-luminati concert and that had left trash all around with alcohol bottles on the track and the long-jump pit, rotting food strewn around on the track.
“First of all, concerts or any programme shouldn’t be allowed in stadiums which are for players development. And JLN is one of the premier stadiums where most track and athletes train. What I have been seeing and talked from other athletes is that the tracks are totally broken and it will take time to repair,” the athlete told IANS on condition of anonymity.
The state of the stadium was first brought to public attention by track and field athlete Beant Singh Bhinder, who posted videos showing the track littered with garbage, empty alcohol bottles/cans and other debris. He explained that his own practice equipment had been tossed aside and damaged and that he had been forced to clean up much of the mess himself.
“Beant only told me about the status, he told me that some of his practice stuffs were broken and thrown here and there. He himself cleaned things there, alcohol bottles, cigarettes, and others things. The stadium is our sacred place where we worship it shouldn’t be allowed anyhow,” the Asian Games medallist athlete added.
The stadium is scheduled to host the Indian Super League fixture between Punjab FC and Chennaiyin FC on Thursday. In response to criticism from athletes, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) informed that the JLN Main Arena will be in top shape to host the ISL match, claiming that the turf had been restored to match playing condition before the game.
“Around 70,000 people attended the concert over two days and the cleaning is already complete,” SAI claimed in its statement while also sharing the cleaned-up pictures of the venue.