THE country’s national federations and athletes were the biggest winners from the Government’s allocation of $1.5B for sports this year, according to the National Budget. The $383.1B which was read by Dr Ashni Singh yesterday will see the sports sector receiving their largest allocation in history. Of the $1.5B, $915.5M was allocated for the transforming of community grounds into modern state-of-the-art sports facilities, commencing in Regions 2, 6 and 10. The sum will also be used for adding lights to community grounds, as well as the laying of synthetic tracks at Regions 6 and 10. It was also noted, that $618M will be used for the hosting of tournaments by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, and to support sports associations. From this amount, $320M will be spent on the training of athletes and coaches, as part of the sports academy. Chronicle Sport will publish Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr’s reaction in tomorrow’s edition.