New Delhi, May 26 (IANS): Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed all Delhi Government sports facilities to stay open for sportsmen till 10 PM.

The direction comes following a media report that the Thyagraj Stadium was being closed for sports activities earlier than usual so that a senior IAS officer could walk his dog at the facility.

Tagging the media report that alleged that over the past few months, athletes and coaches at the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium have been forced to end their training earlier than usual, by 7 pm, Sisodia tweeted that CM Kejriwal has directed all sports facilities to stay open for sportsmen till 10 pm.

According to the report, some athletes and their parents alleged that the reason for the early wrap-up of their training was that Delhi's Principal Secretary (Revenue) Sanjeev Khirwar walks his dog at the facility about half an hour later. However, the senior bureaucrat termed the allegation as absolutely incorrect as per the report.

"News reports have brought to our notice that certain sports facilities are being closed early causing inconvenience to sportsmen who wish to play till late nite (sic). CM @ArvindKejriwal has directed that all Delhi Govt sports facilities to stay open for sportsmen till 10 pm", said the Deputy CM in a tweet.

The players were unhappy because they had to start their training earlier than usual despite the high temperatures so that they can wrap up their session before the stadium was closed at 7 pm.