Carl Lewis, Pele to promote Kerala sports lottery

Thiruvananthapuram — Two sports legend Pele and Carl Lewis would arrive in Kerala in the third week of December to give impetus to the sports lottery that would be launched here Friday.

“Lewis is arriving in India on Dec 15 and after his engagements in other parts of the country he would be here in Kerala. Pele is also arriving in the third week of December and both of them would promote the sports lottery,” said Sports Minister M. Vijayakumar to reporters here, Tuesday.

The sports lottery is being organised to help build sports infrastructure in towns and villages across the state.

“The sale of lottery tickets, priced at Rs.100 each, would be inaugurated on Nov 17 and the draw for the first prize of Rs.20 million ($446,000) would be held on Jan 26 next year. We are printing 20 million tickets,” state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told reporters.

Among the other sports legends who would be here to promote the lottery are former Indian cricket captains Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, tennis star Sania Mirza and athlete Milka Singh. Dates of their visits, however, are yet to be decided.

All proceeds of the lottery, after deducting the prize amount and expenses, would go into a sports fund, which would disburse the money to the state’s 1,000-odd local administration bodies to build and improve sports facilities and infrastructure.

“We expect to raise a total of Rs.1 billion after meeting all expenses and this is billed to be the first ever such unique venture for promotion of sports,” added Isaac.

The local bodies as well as arts and sports clubs will also sell the tickets and receive a 27 percent commission on sales.