June 2020 Sports

Sakshi Education

India remains 108th in the FIFA Rankings
India retained in the 108th spot in the latest FIFA world rankings which was revealed for the month of June. India has 1187 points.

Highlights:
Belgium has topped (remains) the FIFA Rankings.

Not many changes were noted in the FIFA ranking as international matches have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The men's national teams in association football are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest.

The next world FIFA ranking is expected to be released on 16 July.

The top 5 countries of the ranking are:
1. Belgium - 1765 points
2. France - 1733 points
3. Brazil - 1712 points
4. England - 1661 points
5. Uruguay - 1645 points
Sports Ministry to establish Khelo India State Centres of Excellence
The Ministry of Sports is to establish Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCE) under the Khelo India Scheme. The aim is to enhance India's Olympic performance.

Highlights:
Under the move, one KISCE is to be identified in every state and Union Territory (UT), with an effort to create a robust sporting ecosystem in India.

In the first phase, the Ministry of Sports has identified state-owned sports facilities in eight states of India.

The 8 states are:
1. Karnataka
2. Odisha
3. Kerala
4. Telangana
5. Arunachal Pradesh
6. Manipur
7. Mizoram
8. Nagaland

The 8 centres will be given a grant based on the actual amount finalized as per the requirement indicated after a comprehensive gap analysis study.

The sporting facilities that are to be upgraded to KISCE:

Sangey Lhaden Sports Academy, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh

Jaiprakash Narayan National Youth Center, Bangalore, Karnataka

GV Raja Sr. Secondary Sports School, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal, Manipur

Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Aizawl, Mizoram

State Sports Academy, IG Stadium, Kohima, Nagaland

Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha

Regional Sports School, Hakimpet, Telangana
AIFF recommends IM Vijayan for Padma Shri
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) recommended former Indian football team captain IM Vijayan for Padma Shri, which is India's fourth-highest civilian award.

IM Vijayan:
IM Vijayan scored 40 goals in 79 matches for India since making his debut in the early 90s. IM Vijayan has won the Arjuna award in 2003. He was also awarded the Indian 'Player of the Year' in the year 1993, 1997 and 1999. The 51-year-old former striker had scored 4 goals to emerge as the top scorer in the Afro-Asian Games which was held in India in 2003. It was his last appearance for the country.

Previous awardees:
Six Indian footballers namely Sailen Manna in 1971, Chuni Goswami in 1983, PK Banerjee in 1990, Bhaichung Bhutia in 2008, Sunil Chhetri in 2019, and Bembem Devi in 2020, have won the Padma Shri.
BFI nominates AmitPanghal, VikasKrishan nominated for Khel Ratna
World silver-medallist and Indian boxer AmitPanghal and VikasKrishan were nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna award by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).

Other nominations:
BFI has nominated world bronze-winning trio of LovlinaBorgohain under 69kg, SimranjitKaur under 64kg, and Manish Kaushik under 63kg for the Arjuna awards.

BFI has finalized and nominated the names of national women's coach Mohammed Ali Qamar and assistant coach ChhoteLalYadav, for the Dronacharya awards.

The athletes and coaches nominations are based on performance during the last four years
MHRD, Sports Ministry launch special films to promote indigenous sports of India
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the Ministry of Sports have collaborated to produce a series of special films to promote 10 indigenous sports of India.

For implementation, the Department of School Education and Literacy under MHRD has partnered with the Ministry of Sports flagship programme 'Fit India' under the 'Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat' initiative.

Highlights:
The series is aimed to raise awareness about the indigenous games and the culture and heritage of the states to which they belong.

The 10 sports that will be covered in the series are:
Kho-kho
Gatka
Kalaripayttu
Mallakhamb
Thang-Ta
Sqay
Kabaddi
Roll Ball
Tug of War
Shooting Ball
The indigenous sports of India will also cover a mix of very old sports, like, Kalaripayattu, and some recent Roll Ball which has gained a lot of popularity and is now played in at least 50 countries.

The 10 episodes can be watched from June 8 to June 19, Monday to Friday, at 11 am, on the Fit India YouTube page and MHRD digital platforms.

Under the initiative, there are scholarships for athletes of these games and there is a growing interest among youngsters to pursue these sports.
India to host AFC 2022 Asian Women’s Cup
India is to host the 2022 Women's Asian Cup. The hosting rights have been awarded to India by the Asian Football Confederation. This is the second time India will be hosting the event. India hosted the event for the first time in 1979. The information was passed by the All India Football Federation.

2022 Women's Asian Cup:
Women's Asian Cup will be held in the second half of the year 2020.

Women players are expected to bring social revolution in the event.

The football tournament will feature 12 teams. The number of participating teams has been expanded from the previous slot of eight teams.

As India hosts the tournament, India will qualify directly in the tournament.

The event will serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

In the 1979 event, India had finished as runners-up.

The announcement to host the tournament comes as a measure to boost AIFF as India is to host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022.