Mokokchung, April 3 (MExN): The Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem (MTLT) today urged the State Government to treat the GAMMA medalist with the same respect accorded to an “international player with a job or other incentives.”
While acknowledging that the State Government is giving more importance to games and sports, it further requested the Nagaland Youth Resources & Sports Department to take the help of experts in formulating the sports policies so that more sportspersons can compete in the international level and bring laurels to the state.
The MTLT stated this while lauding the efforts of Longtsukumba Ao and Arsenba Ozukum who bagged Silver and Bronze medals in the recent Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) World Championship held at Netherlands. It further congratulated ‘The Combat Academy,’ Dimapur for facilitating the martial artists to compete in the international arena.
It is a proud moment as the Naga fighters competed with some of the best Mixed Martial Art (MMA) fighters in the world and excelled in their competition, a press released from MTLT stated.
The achievement goes on to show that the Naga sportspersons, especially the MMA fighters, do not have to remain within the confines of the state and national arena, but also excel in the international level, it noted.
Noting that the MMA has been emerging as one of the most popular forms of close combat game and a multi-million dollar industry, the MTLT maintained that their participation and wins “should serve as an inspiration for all aspiring MMA fighters in the state.”
It the same time, it regretted that “except for a congratulatory tweet” by Chief Minister and welcome of the ‘heroes’ by some organization, there seems to be no formal programme to felicitate the winners by the state government.
“It is understood that the state government provided Rs 5 Lakh to the participating MMA team, but what is more important is to look beyond, how to best encourage the talented sportspersons, and how such excellence can serve as an inspiration for the future of sports in the state,” the MTLT pointed out.
It further asked whether the State Government has any scheme to facilitate the GAMMA winners, who have excelled in an international arena, and urged for same respect accorded to an international player with a job or other incentives “so that they can scale greater heights in the days to come.”
Additionally, the MTLT also requested the state government to take a closer look at the sport of MMA and try to formulate some clear-cut policies for the promotion of this sport and MMA sportspersons in the state.
The MTLT further wished Longtsukumba, Arsenba, The Combat Academy and all the MMA fighters (particularly, elite MMA competitor Limasunep Imchen and Avizo Lanaimai) the very best in all their future endeavours.
