Another somersault of the Modi government - yoga removed from sports category

One year after recognizing yoga as a sport and placing it in the "priority" category alongside other sports like football, swimming, squash and chess, the sports ministry has reversed the decision. Yoga is no longer considered to be a sport.
It may be recalled that the proposal to recognize yoga as a sport had come from the department of personnel and training, which is under the PMO. The Prime Minister Modi had also led countrywide International Yoga Day celebrations for the past two years.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 24 December 2016.

It seems the department (of sports) has studied the matter and has decided that it may not be feasible to hold competitions in yoga. This has been conveyed through a letter from the ministry to the Indian Olympic Association and all recognized national sports federations. The reason is that yoga has various dimensions/ arms in which competitions are not possible. Hence, it cannot be termed as a sport.
The department of ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy (AYUSH) had given its go-ahead and within a matter of months yoga was recognized as a sport in September last year. Getting such a status meant all zonal and national competitions in the discipline would be funded by the sports ministry and, those who practice yoga would get a pie of the sports quota.


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