Despite showcasing a revamped sports infrastructure, Gujarat University (GU) appears ill-prepared to organize its upcoming inter-college sports event, set to begin on August 5. Poor planning, lack of communication, and administrative lapses have left affiliated colleges confused and students scrambling to register.
According to a media report, GU had invited its affiliated colleges to submit names of interested participants, but the original July 25 deadline passed without a single response. The university extended the deadline to July 31, but the confusion remained unresolved.
“In the meeting on July 30, instead of investigating why colleges hadn’t responded or if the circular even reached them, the university abruptly demanded that participant lists be submitted within a day,” said a university official. “Expecting colleges to finalize entries for over 30 events overnight was completely unrealistic.”
With many colleges claiming they never received the official notice, students have now started bypassing their institutions and are directly contacting GU’s sports department to register themselves.
The disarray goes beyond registration. GU’s sports department has lacked a permanent director for five years. A professor with no background in sports has been overseeing it. Meanwhile, several infrastructure promises remain unfulfilled. The volleyball court has been concretised for religious events, and a hockey field has been squeezed into a narrow space near the running track. While new badminton and tennis courts have been built, they are now being handed over to a private agency, sparking concerns over accessibility and transparency.
The event features competitions in swimming, chess, badminton, table tennis, boxing, basketball, cross country, kabaddi, cricket, rifle shooting, football, cycling, hockey, kho kho, powerlifting, weightlifting, tennis, athletics, softball, yoga, and more.
Despite the university’s stated intent to foster a sports culture, the ongoing mismanagement is casting a shadow over the entire initiative.