By IANS,
New Delhi: Badminton Association of India (BAI) president V.K Verma Saturday said its new sponsorship deal with Premier Brands will make it “self reliant” in terms of finances and will allow the players to focus on winning medals at the Olympics and other major international events.
BAI Friday announced a three-year sponsorship deal worth Rs 7.5 crore with Premier Brands. The federation formed a panel of experts comprising former players to select 16 players, including four juniors, who will benefit from the sponsorship agreement.
“It is one of biggest sponsorship deals signed by any national federation. The deal is the first of its kind outside cricket. It will make us totally self reliant financially. At present, we are totally dependent on government funding for sending teams abroad. But after this sponsorship deal we will not have to think about it,” Verma told IANS Saturday.
“The government support is Rs 1.5 crore every year. This deal will give us Rs 2.5 crore per year. So now we can take care of so many things. We can double the prize money of the domestic tournaments. We can spend more on good training and acomodation of the players. Also the grassroot level can be nurtured well,” he said.
A commitee comprising national coach Pullela Gopichand, former players Prakash Padukone, Dinesh Khanna and Ami Ghia, and a representative of Premier Brand has been formed to select the 16 players who will benefit from the deal.
“These 16 players will form the Indian team and will include 12 senior and four junior players. They will be chosen on the basis of their international rankings. The seniors are the mainstay of the team, but by picking four junior players we wanted to ensure that there is proper bench strength.”
Asked whether there will be any graded system for the 16 players, Verma said: “That I leave for the experts to decide.”
“The money will go towards the development of this team India one way or the other. It could mean more international exposure for the team, quality traning abroad, proper diet etc. So the federation and the players would not have to think about the finances anymore. It will allow the players to have a focussed approach to their training for Olympics and World championships and other international events.”
Verma also said the prize money of the domestic tournaments could now be increased.
“We have five major senior ranking tournaments and three prize money tournaments in junior category. We also have three international championships. We can double the prize money of these tournaments which will again benefit the players.”
The committee is expected to announce the list of 12 senior and four junior players April 30.
Premier Brands, a wholly owned subsidiary of Compact Disc India Ltd, is dedicated to organised brand licensing and merchandising. The company will now become the official sponsor of the Indian badminton team.
Premier Brands Pvt Ltd chairman Suresh Kumar said the deal is a way of giving back to society for the development of sports in India.
“We looked at different sports federations in India and came to a conclusion that BAI is one of the most professionally managed sports bodies. We will soon be announcing several other international sports and lifestyle alliances on the global scale,” he said.