TOPS set for overhaul as Sports Minister seeks more focus on high-yielding disciplines The government’s flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) is set for a major revamp, with Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday saying that quarterly evaluation of selected athletes is being considered, along with a greater focus on high-medal-yielding events like aquatics and cycling.
Currently, the assessment of athletes is carried out half-yearly, and the TOPS core and developmental groups do not feature any cyclist and has just one swimmer in the latter list.
The Minister noted that the TOPS strength, which stands at 399 right now (core 51, core para 62, development 166, target asian games group – 57, hockey – 63), has increased significantly from 245 in the previous year.
“The next target is to expand the TOPS pool to 3000 athletes by 2032, maintaining a core-to-development ratio of 1:5. This will be further scaled up to 5000 athletes by 2036,” he told reporters here.
“The criteria for athletes is also in the works and the committee could be meeting quarterly to decide on the selections,” he added.
Driving the expansion plan would be aquatics, cycling, rowing and gymnastics. PTI reported in January that the government planned to shift the focus to these disciplines due to the high number of medals they offer at the Olympic Games.
Aquatics, which includes swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming, and open water swimming, will offer 55 of the more than 350 overall medals that will be up for grabs across 36 disciplines in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
But India is not expected to get any of these.
Rowing, too, has 45 medals at stake in Los Angeles across 15 events, and cycling, where 22 events will throw up 66 medals.
“In medal-heavy disciplines such as Aquatics, Cycling, and Gymnastics (offered 18 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics), the number of athletes in the development group will be increased, with a structured progression plan to transition them into the core group within the next five years,” the minister asserted.
“A comprehensive roadmap is being developed to integrate identified talent from Khelo India and ASMITA into the TOPS development group, with a clear pathway for their eventual inclusion in the TOPS core group,” he added.
The government is banking on the past success achieved by targeted funding and support to wrestling, badminton and shooting that led to medals at the Olympics.
ALSO READ | Two indigenous Indian sports and cricket, hockey definitely at 2030 CWG: Mandaviya
TOPS is currently headed by former rower Col. N S Johal and features former athletes and administrators. It assesses training proposals of elite athletes and streamlines the support system for them.
TOPS core athletes get an allowance of Rs 50,000. They are also paid USD 25 per day during the period of training and competition overseas.
Athletes in the developmental group are given 25,000 as allowance and an additional USD 25 while training and competing abroad.
Both the core and developmental athletes are evaluated for their performance and fitness levels and the list is pruned or strengthened based on this assessment.
Published on Apr 13, 2026
#TOPS #set #overhaul #Sports #Minister #seeks #focus #highyielding #disciplines
The government’s flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) is set for a major revamp, with Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday saying that quarterly evaluation of selected athletes is being considered, along with a greater focus on high-medal-yielding events like aquatics and cycling.
Currently, the assessment of athletes is carried out half-yearly, and the TOPS core and developmental groups do not feature any cyclist and has just one swimmer in the latter list.
The Minister noted that the TOPS strength, which stands at 399 right now (core 51, core para 62, development 166, target asian games group – 57, hockey – 63), has increased significantly from 245 in the previous year.
“The next target is to expand the TOPS pool to 3000 athletes by 2032, maintaining a core-to-development ratio of 1:5. This will be further scaled up to 5000 athletes by 2036,” he told reporters here.
“The criteria for athletes is also in the works and the committee could be meeting quarterly to decide on the selections,” he added.
Driving the expansion plan would be aquatics, cycling, rowing and gymnastics. PTI reported in January that the government planned to shift the focus to these disciplines due to the high number of medals they offer at the Olympic Games.
Aquatics, which includes swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming, and open water swimming, will offer 55 of the more than 350 overall medals that will be up for grabs across 36 disciplines in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
But India is not expected to get any of these.
Rowing, too, has 45 medals at stake in Los Angeles across 15 events, and cycling, where 22 events will throw up 66 medals.
“In medal-heavy disciplines such as Aquatics, Cycling, and Gymnastics (offered 18 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics), the number of athletes in the development group will be increased, with a structured progression plan to transition them into the core group within the next five years,” the minister asserted.
“A comprehensive roadmap is being developed to integrate identified talent from Khelo India and ASMITA into the TOPS development group, with a clear pathway for their eventual inclusion in the TOPS core group,” he added.
The government is banking on the past success achieved by targeted funding and support to wrestling, badminton and shooting that led to medals at the Olympics.
ALSO READ | Two indigenous Indian sports and cricket, hockey definitely at 2030 CWG: Mandaviya
TOPS is currently headed by former rower Col. N S Johal and features former athletes and administrators. It assesses training proposals of elite athletes and streamlines the support system for them.
TOPS core athletes get an allowance of Rs 50,000. They are also paid USD 25 per day during the period of training and competition overseas.
Athletes in the developmental group are given 25,000 as allowance and an additional USD 25 while training and competing abroad.
Both the core and developmental athletes are evaluated for their performance and fitness levels and the list is pruned or strengthened based on this assessment.
Published on Apr 13, 2026
![Vox Creative, Roku debut new docuseries on history of American soccer The history of American soccer has spanned well over 120 years, and to date there hasn’t been many opportunities to look back at that history. With the 2026 World Cup about a month away, we now have a chance to do just that. Yesterday, SB Nation collaborated with Vox Creative and Roku to release Soccer Meets America, a 3-part docuseries that focuses on the rise of soccer in the United States.Soccer Meets America focuses around the meteoric rise in popularity, from the North American Soccer League days of the 1970s and 1980s to the 1984 Olympics, leading up to the 1994 World Cup. At the center of that history was Alan Rothenberg, who served as soccer commissioner for the 1984 Olympics, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1990 to 1998, and the CEO of the 1994 World Cup. He also had a hand in the start of Major League Soccer, adding women’s soccer to the Olympic program in 1996, and bringing the 1999 Women’s World Cup to the United States.Rothenberg recently released a new book entitled The Big Bounce: The Surge that Shaped the Future of U.S. Soccer. In the book, Rothenberg gives an inside account at how American soccer went from the days where leagues were not organized and fizzled quickly to some of the success we have today with leagues like Major League Soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League, and the United Soccer Leagues. He details his firsthand knowledge of what it took for the United States to host a successful soccer tournament at the 1984 Olympics, how the nation won the bid to host the 1994 World Cup, and how he was able to organize the federation to get everything done and push the game forward. He recently sat down for an interview on the USA Soccercast, and in that interview, he mentioned that the rise in popularity of the game wasn’t based on one big moment, but a sustained buildup of momentum.“[American soccer] sort of grew when I was starting in 1990,” Alan Rothenberg, former U.S. Soccer president and CEO of the 1994 World Cup, said in an interview for the USA Soccercast. “I had a glimpse of it back in the 70s when we had a team in Los Angeles ,and obviously the Cosmos set the world on fire at that time with Pelé and [Franz] Beckebauer…you had Giants Stadium. So there were those glimpses of what the future could hold. But as we started to build the soccer federation, our [1994] World cup team and the World cup organization, it just started to accelerate. So there wasn’t one ‘a ha!’ moment.”Soccer Meets America takes the unique yet unexpected path of professional soccer in the United States andn gives the story some definition. Through people like Rothenberg, we see that the history is shaped by chance, persistence, and communities that kept the game alive long before it found mainstream recognition. Starting with the sport’s deep roots in immigrant communities in the 1920s, each episode of the docuseries explores soccer on a personal and professional level. Both nostalgic and forward-facing, the series features a variety of influential figures in American soccer and aims to resonate with new and old fans of the sport alike.But there’s also the legacy of the 2026 World Cup, which will be different from what it was in 1994. “Well, obviously we’re starting from a different baseline,” Rothenberg said. “We started at virtually zero back in [1990], and now we’re starting from level 60 or 75…so the dramatic consequences will not be the same as they were after 94, but I think it’s going to be a huge spike in interest in the sport at all levels.”To grow the history, you must learn from it. And Soccer Meets America gives you a review of America’s soccer history and strengthes the foundations from which the sport’s culture and passion were created. As we approach the World Cup, that knowledge will be essential to craft the legacy that will carry long after the tournament ends. #Vox #Creative #Roku #debut #docuseries #history #American #soccer](https://i3.wp.com/platform.sbnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/gettyimages-2273772608.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.740350081171%2C100%2C78.519299837658&w=1200&ssl=1 "Vox Creative, Roku debut new docuseries on history of American soccer The history of American soccer has spanned well over 120 years, and to date there hasn’t been many opportunities to look back at that history. With the 2026 World Cup about a month away, we now have a chance to do just that. Yesterday, SB Nation collaborated with Vox Creative and Roku to release Soccer Meets America, a 3-part docuseries that focuses on the rise of soccer in the United States.Soccer Meets America focuses around the meteoric rise in popularity, from the North American Soccer League days of the 1970s and 1980s to the 1984 Olympics, leading up to the 1994 World Cup. At the center of that history was Alan Rothenberg, who served as soccer commissioner for the 1984 Olympics, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1990 to 1998, and the CEO of the 1994 World Cup. He also had a hand in the start of Major League Soccer, adding women’s soccer to the Olympic program in 1996, and bringing the 1999 Women’s World Cup to the United States.Rothenberg recently released a new book entitled The Big Bounce: The Surge that Shaped the Future of U.S. Soccer. In the book, Rothenberg gives an inside account at how American soccer went from the days where leagues were not organized and fizzled quickly to some of the success we have today with leagues like Major League Soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League, and the United Soccer Leagues. He details his firsthand knowledge of what it took for the United States to host a successful soccer tournament at the 1984 Olympics, how the nation won the bid to host the 1994 World Cup, and how he was able to organize the federation to get everything done and push the game forward. He recently sat down for an interview on the USA Soccercast, and in that interview, he mentioned that the rise in popularity of the game wasn’t based on one big moment, but a sustained buildup of momentum.“[American soccer] sort of grew when I was starting in 1990,” Alan Rothenberg, former U.S. Soccer president and CEO of the 1994 World Cup, said in an interview for the USA Soccercast. “I had a glimpse of it back in the 70s when we had a team in Los Angeles ,and obviously the Cosmos set the world on fire at that time with Pelé and [Franz] Beckebauer…you had Giants Stadium. So there were those glimpses of what the future could hold. But as we started to build the soccer federation, our [1994] World cup team and the World cup organization, it just started to accelerate. So there wasn’t one ‘a ha!’ moment.”Soccer Meets America takes the unique yet unexpected path of professional soccer in the United States andn gives the story some definition. Through people like Rothenberg, we see that the history is shaped by chance, persistence, and communities that kept the game alive long before it found mainstream recognition. Starting with the sport’s deep roots in immigrant communities in the 1920s, each episode of the docuseries explores soccer on a personal and professional level. Both nostalgic and forward-facing, the series features a variety of influential figures in American soccer and aims to resonate with new and old fans of the sport alike.But there’s also the legacy of the 2026 World Cup, which will be different from what it was in 1994. “Well, obviously we’re starting from a different baseline,” Rothenberg said. “We started at virtually zero back in [1990], and now we’re starting from level 60 or 75…so the dramatic consequences will not be the same as they were after 94, but I think it’s going to be a huge spike in interest in the sport at all levels.”To grow the history, you must learn from it. And Soccer Meets America gives you a review of America’s soccer history and strengthes the foundations from which the sport’s culture and passion were created. As we approach the World Cup, that knowledge will be essential to craft the legacy that will carry long after the tournament ends. #Vox #Creative #Roku #debut #docuseries #history #American #soccer")
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