PRESS RELEASE At the International Olympic Day celebration, Hon'ble Minister for Public Works and Sports Development Thiru Aadhav Arjuna inaugurated 10 sports arenas and grounds built at a cost of Rs.28.25 crore across 10 districts of Tamil Nadu, and presented incentive awards worth Rs.13 lakh to 5 sportspersons. ********** At the International Olympic Day celebration held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai, Hon'ble Minister for Public Works and Sports Development inaugurated 10 sports arenas and grounds built at a cost of Rs.28.25 crore across 10 districts of Tamil Nadu and presented incentive awards worth Rs.13 lakh to 5 sportspersons. Speaking on the occasion, he said: "I am like a member of your family. My mission is that the sports department should feel like there is no barrier at all. Just like you, when I came from Tiruchi to the Sports Hostel, the then former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's scheme selected three persons from Tamil Nadu on merit for Basketball, and I was one of them. Our Hon'ble Chief Minister and elder brother, Thiru C. Joseph Vijay, took charge of office in this very place. When he assumed office, I told him - normally they take the oath at the Governor's office, but for the sake of sportspersons, could the oath be taken at Nehru Stadium - and he immediately agreed. He took the oath of office at Nehru Stadium for the sake of sportspersons. Now you have access to many things. When we used to play, none of this infrastructure existed. There are still many things that need to be fixed. Politics should not enter sport. Politics should not become a sport in itself. Education is important. For education, the brain is important. For the brain to function well, the body must be healthy. Without physical fitness, the brain cannot function well. Since I came here, I have been coming to Nehru Stadium at 5 A.M. Even after becoming Minister, I still come to the ground at 6 A.M. Write this down - my vision is for sports development in Tamil Nadu to grow significantly within another year. We have nearly 1.25 crore students. We can give them a vision. We have 6,000 physical education teachers. We are going to set a target for them. Just as my coach used to say, focus should not be on the spectators but on the playing field - that is also my message to those who criticize me politically. Whatever you say, it will not reach my ears. My focus will remain entirely on my work. We are formulating a policy to remove the distinction between men and women in sports. If prize money is not paid for any match held anywhere in Tamil Nadu, we are considering bringing laws treating that as a crime. Our target should be nothing less than the Olympics. Physical education teachers must be provided to schools. Sports must be introduced as a separate subject. Only then will this matter of sports truly reach the people. To develop Olympic athletes, we are setting up an Olympic International Stadium on 120 acres at Thiruporur. For hill communities, we are going to establish an Olympic training centre atop Kalvarayan Hills in Kallakurichi. We will identify 6,000 persons and provide them training with foreign coaches. We are going to provide air-conditioning throughout the hostels where the athletes stay. We are going to conduct the Anti-Drug awareness run on the 26th on a large scale across Tamil Nadu. We too will take part and run the full 6 kilometres. Our team will run separately. We will also see who participates from the other teams. There is a possibility the Chief Minister may also participate in this event. He has consistently emphasised that youth should not touch any kind of drugs. The goal is for all the youth of Tamil Nadu to turn towards sports. For this, the sports grounds available across the State must be used more extensively. Previously, although many municipal corporations and local bodies had grounds, conditions were such that they were not fully available for public use. Efforts are currently underway to identify vacant sites and grounds and bring them into use for youth sports. Some currently vacant grounds in Chennai have been identified. Basic amenities such as lighting and fencing will be put in place there, and the sports department's goal is to create a safe environment for youth to play," he stated. At the event, the Hon'ble Minister for Public Works and Sports Development inaugurated a total of 10 sports arenas and grounds built at a cost of Rs.28.25 crore across 10 districts of Tamil Nadu, comprising: a synthetic-turf hockey ground newly built at a cost of Rs.20.30 crore at the District Sports Complexes in Ariyalur and Tiruvannamalai districts; a para-sports arena newly built at a cost of Rs.3 crore at the District Sports Complexes in Dindigul and Krishnagiri districts; and Chief Minister's Youth Sports Arenas built at a cost of Rs.2.46 crore at the District Sports Complexes in Virudhunagar, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri and Thoothukudi districts. At the event, Olympic sportspersons Bhaskaran, Devarajan, Rashmi Chakravarthy, Tarun Aiyasamy and Kasthuri Rajamani shared their sporting experiences. The Hon'ble Minister also presented a special incentive award of Rs.10 lakh to Saviya Sree, an ELITE chess player of the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority who won the Asian Chess Championship held in Mongolia, and incentive awards of Rs.75,000 each, through the Tamil Nadu Champions Trust, to Tamil Nadu players Sam Vasanth, Kirthika, Akshata and Janice Stella, who are set to participate in the Taekwondo Championship for Under-23 category to be held in China from 09.07.2026 to 12.07.2026. The event was attended by Hon'ble Minister for School Education, Tamil Development, Information and Publicity Thiru Rajmohan, Hon'ble Minister for Industries Selvi S. Keerthana, Hon'ble Minister for Higher Education Thiru P. Viswanathan, Chennai District Collector Tmt. S. Malathi Helen, IAS, Secretary to Government, Department of Youth Welfare and Sports Development Thiru Sandeep Nanduri, IAS, President of JSW Inspire Institute of Sport Ms. Manisha Malhotra, Member Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority Thiru J. Meghanath Reddy, IAS, District Revenue Officer of the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority Dr. Sara Suman, and General Manager Thiru L. Sujatha. ****** Issued By: Director, DIPR, Chennai-9