The Architect of the First Asian Games: Anthony De Mello

Abstract

In 1951, the first Asian Games were organised in New Delhi, the capital of newly independent India. But the organizers of the first Asian Games faced a lot of problems. Suddenly one day Gurudutt Sondhi resigned from the post of Director of the Asian Games. As a result, the dream of organising the first Asian Games turned into a 'phantasy'. The person who turned that phantom into a reality was Anthony de Mello. De Mello was the founder member and president of the 'Board of Control for Cricket in India'. He founded the 'Cricket Club of India' in Bombay and built the 'National Sports Club of India'. When Anthony de Mello took over as the director, there was no stadium in Delhi. From there, within just ten months, he organised an international sports event involving Asian countries, which was incredible, in a word. Along with this, there was a financial crisis, but de Mello was the solution. He took a loan from the National Sports Club of India to organize the Asian Games. Apart from this, he completed everything efficiently, from providing the necessary equipment for sports to building the stadium and arranging accommodation for the athletes. Finally, on March 4, 1951, New Delhi and the whole world witnessed the sports conference of Asian countries – the 'Asian Games', which is currently a very important international sports competition and is held right after the Olympics.