Yoga derecognised 15 months after being declared a sport
The Sports Ministry has derecognised yoga, 15 months after declaring it a 'priority sport'. The decision was communicated to National Sports Federations and the Sports Authority of India after the government concluded it will not be possible to conduct competitions. Yoga will now come under the prerogative of the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy).
Just 14 months after Yoga was declared as a sport in India, the decision has now been reversed.When Yoga was recognised as a sport in India in September last year, it had the seal of approval from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), but on Wednesday the sports ministry communicated to all the National Sports Federations and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), that "Yoga can't be termed as a sport."Yoga, in fact, was added in the list of priority sports but the government has found out that it has many dimensions and it will not be possible to conduct competitions in Yoga.For any sport to be added into the priority list, it should be part of Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games but for Yoga, an exception was made.