National Sports Awards 2020 to be held virtually for first-time on Aug 29
Aug 27, 2020
New Delhi [India], Aug 27 : The National Sports Awards 2020 will be held virtually for the first time on August 29 in the history of the awards.
President of India, Ram Nath Kovind will present the award to the award winners in virtual mode.
In the virtual format, President of India will be attending through NIC link from the President's house, via video conferencing, while the recipients will be present at SAI and NIC centres in various locations across the country. The Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju and other dignitaries will be present in Vigyan Bhawan for the award ceremony.
There are 74 awards in seven categories. Total 65 award winners will be attending the function from various locations. Nine award winners will not attend due to several reasons like being quarantined, tested positive, ill-health or not in the country etc.
All health and safety protocols, in keeping with the guidelines of the Health Ministry, are being followed at all the venues where dignitaries and awardees will be present. Further, the Sports Ministry has advised every award winner to undergo a Covid-19 test before reporting to the venue.
Three award winners after having tested positive will not attend the function. All health and safety protocols are being followed strictly at the centres where the athletes will be present. All centres have been thoroughly sanitized and arrangements have been made to ensure social distancing during the awards function.
Awardees who are not being able to attend the function from one of the various centres or are not in India on August 29, will be given the award later. Of the 74 recipients of the National Sports Awards this year, 65 awardees will be attending the virtual award ceremony on August 29. The program will be telecast live on Doordarshan.
Cricketer Rohit Sharma, Mariyappan T. (Para-Athletics), Manika Batra (Table Tennis), Vinesh (Wrestling) and Rani (Hockey) will be conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Shuttler Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy, cricketer Ishant Sharma and shooter Manu Bhaker are among the 27 athletes who will be conferred with Arjuna Award.
Dharmendra Tiwary (archery), Purushotham Rai (athletics), Shiv Singh (boxing), Romesh Pathania (hockey), Krishan Kumar Hooda (kabaddi), Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (para-powerlifting), Naresh Kumar (tennis), and Om Parkash Dahiya (wrestling) will receive Dronacharya Lifetime award.
Yogesh Malviya (Mallakhamb), Jaspal Rana (Shooting), Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (Wushu), and Gaurav Khanna (Para Badminton) will be conferred with Dronacharya Award in the regular category.
