navi mumbai absence of a public sports complex has been a major concern for city athletes especially those coming from the economically weaker section the neighbouring thane has dadoji konddev stadium that is run by tmc but the state government has come up with krida prabodhini hostel that also provides education and free coaching facilities to needy talents and those coming from tribal areas to practice at the stadium this facility is missing in the satellite city the one developed by nmmc at cbd is only for cricket even young athletes and veterans need a muchsought after public stadium citys talented athletes have to go to thane to practice their chosen sports in the absence of a stadium with facilities for track and field disciplines badminton table tennis cricket football among others with no such public facility in place poor athletes fail to take up sports seriously said tarvinder singh an athletics coach when asked about land allotment for sporting facilities cidco sources said we have allotted over a dozen reserved plots for sports complexes to private parties for overall promotion of sports in the region a major plot at a prime location in cbd was also sanctioned to nmmc where rajiv gandhi stadium has been built but the sporting fraternity is not happy with the stadium the 20000 sq m complex is designed for cricket with a capacity of 2500 only said milind khade a sports teacher both athletes and coaches from the city prefer the thane stadium although its timeconsuming to train there although the civic administration is hopeful about the proposed ghansoli public stadium the land is yet to be acquired from cidco we are in talks with cidco and state government for the transfer of two reserved plots admeasuring 36 and 28 acres respectively in ghansoli to develop the regional sports complex said a civic official