Athletes fume as Delhi's JLN Stadium in mess after 'Dil-Luminati' concert; SAI promises clean-up

Widespre littering at end of popular singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh's two-day concert at Jawaharlal Nehru Stium here drew sharp criticism from athletes who train regularly at iconic venue even as its owner, Sports Authority of India (SAI), promised a clean-up in next 24 hours.

stium hosted 'Dil-Luminati' concert on Saturday and Sunday and drew nearly 40,000 fans each night.

It wasn't first time that such an event was held at venue, which has hosted concerts by top international stars such as Bryan ams (2004) and Ricky Martin (1998) in past. But after-effects of Dosanjh's gig were heavily criticised by athletes.

Delhi's middle distance runner Beant Singh posted images and a video of stium's track and field area which was littered with garbage, alcohol containers and damaged athletics equipment.

"This is where athletes train, but here people h alcohol, danced and partied. Because of se kind of things, stium will remain close for 10-10 days. athletics equipment like hurdles have been broken and thrown here and re," he wrote on Instagram.

"This is situation of sport, sportspersons and stium in India. .... medals do not come in Olympics because re is no respect and support for sportspersons in this country." 25-year-old Singh h won a silver and a bronze in 2014 and 2018 National Open Championships respectively.

SAI, on its part, said that its contract with concert organisers was very clear -- stium would be returned to body in "same condition that it was handed over to m." "More than 70,000 people attended concert over two days and cleaning will take 24 hours. stium is expected to be cleaned up by 29th," a top SAI source said when reached for a comment.

But for athletes like Singh, it was heartbreaking to watch place that is ir training base in condition it was in Monday.

In caption of video, he wrote: "Jo nuksan hua hai bacho ka vo to do bache khud paise ikat krke samaan leke aate hain prctc k liye …." (At least pay for loss incurred by se children, who collected money mselves and brought equipment for practice).

stium is also hosting Indian Super League football matches as Punjab FC uses it as its home venue. y have a match against Chennaiyin FC on Thursday.

This is not first time that JLN Stium has been left in such a messy condition after public functions attended by large crowds.

"Athletes who train here have voiced ir disappointment in past also but nothing has changed," said a track and field athlete from Delhi on conditions of anonymity.

Currently, stium is not hosting any national camp. It is, however, part of 'Come and Play' scheme of SAI, which allows children and beginners to use stium's facilities free of cost for training purposes.

venue was constructed to hold athletics competitions of 1982 Asian Games. It was renovated for 2010 Commonwealth Games and both opening and closing ceremonies of that showpiece were held here.