‘Have Seen Highest Level Of Political Commitment From PM Modi’: Commonwealth Sport Chief Donald Rukare On CG30 Preparations

‘Have seen highest level of political commitment from PM Modi’: Commonwealth Sport chief Donald Ruka (Image Source: IANS)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Commonwealth Sport President, Donald Rukare, has praised the strong political backing from Narendra Modi and Gujarat’s leadership, expressing confidence that India’s preparations for the 2030 Commonwealth Games are firmly on track.

Rukare said the visiting delegation’s tour of Gujarat, including Ahmedabad and Delhi, revealed significant progress, with several world-class facilities already in place and others under development, reinforcing optimism about India’s readiness.

“We have seen the highest level of political commitment from his excellency, the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to the Chief Minister in Gujarat, the Deputy Chief Minister, our colleagues within the city, within the Indian Commonwealth Games Association, Madam President (PT Usha) here. So we are very happy that everything is on track and we look forward to the journey as we move towards 2030 once we close out the 2026 games in August this year,” Rukare told IANS.

The delegation undertook a comprehensive multi-city visit from April 8–10, reviewing key venues and infrastructure across Amdavad, Gandhinagar, Vadodara, and Ekta Nagar. The visit included inspections of competition venues such as Mahatma Mandir, Veer Savarkar Sports Complex, Narendra Modi Stadium, and IIT Gandhinagar, among others, as well as meetings with senior Government of Gujarat officials and city authorities.

He noted that the formal transition process will begin after the conclusion of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with the baton set to be handed over to Indian authorities in August following the closing ceremony in Glasgow.

“From what we have seen so far, there is no doubt that there is considerable progress, and of course, we are beginning the journey. We will be in Glasgow in July of this year to collect the games, and on August 2, when we close the games, we shall hand over the baton officially to our colleagues here in India, to the state of Ahmedabad, and we shall begin the journey of getting ready for 2030. So what we have seen so far gives us a high level of confidence that there are already some existing world-class facilities, others are in the pipeline,” he added.

He noted that the formal transition process will begin after the conclusion of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with the baton set to be handed over to Indian authorities in August following the closing ceremony in Glasgow.

“The Games in Glasgow are different; we have a 10-sport programme with para-integration as well as across four venue sites, building on a legacy of the 2014 Games in Glasgow. And we believe the Games are going to be altogether brilliant, and that would be a nice bridge to the Youth Games in Malta in 2027. And then we will begin preparing for what is going to be equally brilliant games here in India in the state of Gujarat and Ahmedabad city and we are looking at probably a sport programme of about maybe 15 to 17 sports and it will definitely be a celebration of our centenary games celebrating 100 years and we look forward to a robust sport programme and our athletes enjoying themselves from our 74 countries and territories.”

Article Source: IANS