India’s sports ecosystem may be approaching a structural inflection point. The Union Budget for FY 2026–27 has allocated a record ₹4,479.88 crore to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports an 18% increase over the previous Budget Estimates and nearly 34% higher than the revised allocation of FY 2025–26. On paper, it is the largest…
The global sportswear industry entered a new phase in January 2026 when Chinese giant Anta Sports announced it would acquire a 29.06 percent stake in German brand Puma SE for €1.5 billion. The deal, which makes Anta Puma’s largest shareholder, is far more than a financial transaction. It represents a structural shift in how global…
“So what do you feel about India’s chances for Los Angeles 2028?” Is the question often asked When people meet a sports writer, the first question they often ask is, Closely followed by, “Will we do better in Los Angeles than we did at Paris 2024?” The answer to these questions is not something abstract…
In a major boost to Assam’s sporting ecosystem, a high-performance training camp for athletes and coaches across seven disciplines has been launched in Guwahati under the initiative of the Department of Sports and Youth Welfare, Government of Assam, in collaboration with the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS). The programme marks a significant step towards building…
Guwahati is set to take a significant step toward establishing itself as a high-performance sporting center, following the announcement of a new High-Performance Satellite Sports Centre by the Directorate of Sports & Youth Welfare (DSYW), Government of Assam, in partnership with the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS). The initiative marks a decisive move to build…
Reliance Industries’ ₹7 lakh crore investment roadmap for Gujarat is often discussed in the context of green energy, artificial intelligence, and industrial transformation. But embedded within this sweeping economic vision is a carefully structured sporting ambition, one that could fundamentally reshape India’s high-performance ecosystem and position Gujarat as the country’s sporting capital over the next…
The Sports Ahmedabad Conclave, held in Ahmedabad on January 9, 2026, may well be remembered as a turning point in India’s sporting administration. Attended by Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, and Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao, the conclave was not about ceremonial speeches or broad promises. Instead, it delivered…
The Indian Olympic Association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), held in Ahmedabad on January 9, 2026, marked a significant moment in the restructuring of Indian sport. Conducted after a gap of nearly three years, the meeting was less about routine approvals and more about resetting priorities financial, administrative, and athlete-centric priorities as India charts a long-term…
India’s formal push to host the 2036 Olympic Games is no longer a symbolic aspiration. It marks a decisive shift in how the country views sport not as episodic success driven by individual brilliance, but as a long-term national project rooted in governance reform, institutional accountability, and performance science. What has emerged over the past…
Most Indian teenagers may be worried about their next exam or about how their next date is going to go, but there is an elite group of youngsters with dreams much bigger, who have worked incredibly hard for sporting glory and have their eyes on the biggest goal of them all an Olympics medal. This…
Over the last decade, Odisha has quietly rewritten the script on how sport is imagined, funded, and governed in India. What began as an ambitious effort to host international events has evolved into a long-term, athlete-first sports model that is now being cited as a blueprint not just nationally, but globally. Today, Odisha is no…
Gujarat’s current sports policy was released on 10th March 2022 and featured a five-year roadmap. The sports policy was construed by the Sports Youth and Cultural Affairs Department and the Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG). This longitudinal plan highlights a pathway that characterizes a Long-Term Athlete Development Program. The structure emphasises improving performances at the…
Indian sports ambitions have never been more clearly articulated. With a stated goal of becoming a top-ten sporting nation by 2036 and a serious push to host the Olympic Games, the country has invested heavily in infrastructure, athlete support systems, and high-performance programmes. Yet beneath the surface of this progress lies a structural weakness that…
January Sports Calendar 2026: A Week-by-Week Guide to One of the Busiest Months in Global Sport January has traditionally been seen as a warm-up month in the global sporting calendar. In 2026, that perception no longer holds. From Grand Slams and continental championships to national leagues and ranking-defining international tours, the first month of the…
Indian sport reached a long-overdue inflection point on December 30, 2025, when the Special Task Force on Capacity Building of Sports Administrators, chaired by Abhinav Bindra, submitted its 170-page report to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. More than just another committee document, the report functions as an implementation blueprint for the National Sports…
The year 2026 is set to mark a decisive turning point in Gujarat’s Global sports and economic trajectory. Long known as one of India’s industrial and commercial powerhouses, the state is now positioning itself as the country’s most ambitious and integrated sports hub. This transformation is not driven by a single marquee event, but by…
Sports Events in 2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for Indian sport beyond the boundary ropes. From world-class badminton and elite shooting to continental weightlifting, hockey, and athletics, the country is preparing to host a calendar that reflects both sporting depth and growing organizational ambition. This is not just about volume. It…
The global sports economy has quietly transformed from a supporting entertainment sector into a primary economic engine. Once driven largely by tradition and fandom, sport today sits at the intersection of infrastructure, technology, media, health, and geopolitics. Nowhere is this shift more visible than in Saudi Arabia and India, two nations pursuing ambitious but fundamentally…
Indian sports ecosystem took a decisive step forward on December 22, 2025, when the Governing Body of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) cleared a wide-ranging set of infrastructure and technology upgrades across multiple national centers. Chaired by Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya, the meeting reflected a clear shift in philosophy…
Indian sport is quietly undergoing its most significant transformation since liberalization. For decades, the ecosystem outside cricket functioned largely on emotion driven by individual passion, sporadic government grants, or corporate CSR support. Leagues were launched with enthusiasm but folded just as quickly, federations struggled with governance issues, and athletes operated in uncertain professional environments. That…
Long known as one of India’s most important spiritual centres, Tirupati is now charting a very different trajectory. Beyond temples and pilgrimage tourism, the city is steadily emerging as a key node in Andhra Pradesh’s long-term sports infrastructure strategy. At the heart of this shift lies an ambitious plan to build an integrated, international-standard sports…
Indian sports is often discussed through the narrow prism of medals how many were won, in which discipline, and what they mean for the next Olympic cycle. But a recent panel discussion at Jio Institute at 2nd Indian Sports Management Conference 2025 on sports pathways, governance, education, and inclusion made one thing abundantly clear, medals…
For the third consecutive year, India finished at the top of the global anti-doping charts not for excellence, but for violations. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA data for 2024, India recorded 260 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) from 7,113 samples, a positivity rate of 3.6 per cent, the highest among all major testing nations….
India’s sporting ambitions are increasingly being shaped not just by athletes and coaches, but by cities and states willing to invest in long-term ecosystems. Gujarat’s vision to emerge as Indian sports capital with Ahmedabad at its centre is one of the most ambitious and structurally detailed blueprints currently underway in the country. Far from being…
Indian sport today stands at a decisive crossroads. While medals, rankings and record-breaking performances dominate headlines, the real transformation is unfolding quietly beneath the surface in classrooms, playgrounds, coaching rooms and high-performance centers. This was the central message of a powerful address delivered at the Jio Institute at 2nd Indian Sports Management Conference 2025, which…
Tamil Nadu took a decisive step toward modernising sports governance at the second edition of the Tamil Nadu Sports Conclave (TASCON 2.0), unveiling a dual strategy that combines high-performance technology with long-term athlete security. Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin formally launched the Sports Tamil Nadu Athlete Management System (STAMS) while simultaneously reaffirming the 3 per…
The Los Angeles, LA2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games have reached a major commercial milestone well ahead of schedule, securing over USD 2 billion in domestic sponsorship and licensing revenue with more than two and a half years to go before the Opening Ceremony. The achievement places LA28 firmly on track to hit its ambitious USD…
Google’s decision to introduce a dedicated YouTube TV Sports Plan (YTSP) in early 2026 marks one of the most consequential shifts in the modern pay-TV ecosystem. Framed as part of a broader initiative called “YouTube TV Plans,” the move signals the end of the one-size-fits-all bundle and the arrival of a more surgical, data-driven approach…
Virat Kohli’s decision to invest in Agilitas Sports rather than renew a lucrative endorsement deal marks a defining moment in the evolution of Indian sports business. It is not just another celebrity-brand association, but a structural shift from face value to ownership, from short-term endorsement income to long-term enterprise building. Kohli has invested around ₹40…
Tamil Nadu has quietly but decisively emerged as one of India’s most active sporting states outside cricket. By 2025, the state’s sports ecosystem reflects both scale and ambition marked by heavy public investment, global event hosting, strong public–private partnerships, and a growing sports manufacturing base. At the same time, structural vulnerabilities in governance and industry…
As the sporting world edges closer to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, fencing enters a decisive three-year stretch that will determine which of the world’s best foilists, épéeists and sabreurs take their place on the Olympic piste. The qualification system confirmed by the International Fencing Federation (FIE) sets the stage for a global contest…
In Olympic shooting, qualification is rarely a formality. It is a long-drawn test of nerve, consistency and technical mastery a two-year gauntlet that filters out even the finest marksmen and markswomen until only the world’s most reliable performers remain. For the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has set out…
As the Olympic cycle turns toward Los Angeles 2028, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) has finalised one of the most intricate qualification systems in global sport for Equestrian. Eventing, Jumping and Dressage three disciplines that rely on a deep partnership between athlete and horse will send a combined 200 riders to LA28 under structures designed…
The qualification pathway for badminton at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games has officially been outlined by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The framework, updated as of 10 December 2025, offers clarity on athlete quotas, qualification routes, ranking timelines and the role of continental representation in shaping the competitive field. With 172 total athlete slots…
As the countdown to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games accelerates, the global hockey landscape is beginning to reshape itself around one of the most demanding qualification pathways in international sport. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has finalized its system for both the men’s and women’s 12-team tournaments, and the document released in December 2025…
World Aquatics has released the updated Swimming Qualification System for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, outlining a detailed and data-driven pathway for athletes and federations. The document, updated as of 10 December 2025, confirms 41 medal events 20 for men, 20 for women, and one mixed relay while integrating six new 50m sprint events for…
The Infosys Foundation and GoSports Foundation have taken a significant step forward in India’s high-performance sports ecosystem by expanding their athlete sponsorship programme from Girls for Gold to the more inclusive Gear for Gold. The move marks an evolution from a targeted, women-centric initiative to a broader, system-driven model that now supports male, female and…
India’s journey as a host of international multi-sport events spans more than seven decades, reflecting a steady evolution in ambition, capacity, and strategic intent. What began in the early years of independence as a nation defining its regional sporting identity has grown into a sophisticated, future-oriented pursuit aimed at securing a place among the world’s…
In one of the most consequential policy reversals in modern Olympic history, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has shifted from an inclusion-first transgender participation framework to a centralized, restrictive model designed to protect the integrity of the female category. The change, formalized in mid-2025 under the leadership of newly elected IOC President Kirsty Coventry, marks…
India’s sports economy is projected to soar to $130 billion by 2030, positioning the nation as one of the world’s most dynamic emerging sports markets. But beneath the headline numbers lies a deeper structural shift: the true engine of long-term enterprise value is moving away from in-season media revenues and toward year-round commercial monetization driven…
South Africa has announced its most ambitious sporting vision in decades: a formal bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in either 2036 or 2040. If successful, it would make South Africa not only the first country on the continent to stage the Summer Olympics, but also a symbolic standard-bearer for Africa’s growing presence…
Indian sports economy is entering a decade-defining transformation one where brands must make a strategic choice about how to allocate capital across two diverging but equally compelling ecosystems. On one side stand the Olympic-aligned legacy sports such as football, hockey, tennis, wrestling and athletics. On the other side are fast-growing recreational and indigenous movements pickleball…
For more than six decades, the Laloor region of Thrissur symbolised one of Kerala’s most persistent municipal failures. The city’s primary dumping ground, now I M Vijayan Sports Complex spread over 8–10 acres and receiving nearly 60 tons of waste a day had devolved into a humanitarian and environmental crisis. The stench travelled for kilometres….
The LA28 Olympic Games (LA28) will mark a historic turning point not just for the Olympic movement but for India’s own sporting ambitions. Scheduled from July 14 to July 30, 2028, LA28 is officially the largest Olympic Games in history, featuring 51 sports across 49 competition venues, and achieving an unprecedented 50.5% participation of women…
In one of the most ambitious institutional reforms in recent Indian sporting history, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has approved the recruitment of 320 Assistant Coach across 25 disciplines under the Sports Authority of India (SAI). This massive expansion part of a two-phase plan that will ultimately appoint 640 new coaches marks the…
India is preparing for the biggest transformation of a sports facility in its history. The Union Sports Ministry’s proposal to dismantle the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (JLN) and rebuild the 102-acre complex as a modern Sports City marks a decisive shift in the country’s approach to elite sports infrastructure. This move is deeply strategic closely…
The LA2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games are preparing to redefine what global sporting ceremonies can represent in the 21st century. With the appointment of award-winning producer Ben Winston and Olympic ceremonies veteran Scott Givens to jointly lead the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, LA28 is signaling a transformative shift from traditional, protocol-heavy presentations to grand, cinematic,…
The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are set to redefine how major sporting events are financed and presented. For the first time in Olympic history, venue naming rights will be permitted during the Games, marking a significant departure from a century of tradition under the International Olympic Committee’s long-standing “clean venue” policy….
For decades, Australia has punched far above its weight in global sport. With a population smaller than Delhi NCR, it consistently finishes among the top ten at the Olympics. This disproportionate success isn’t luck or geography it’s strategy and what Indian Sports can learn. Since a humiliating zero-gold return at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Australia…
In a dramatic and unprecedented move, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially terminated all dialogue with Indonesia regarding its bid to host the 2036 Olympics, following Jakarta’s refusal to grant visas to Israeli athletes competing in the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The decision, confirmed by the IOC Executive Board, marks one of the…
