AAFI strips athletes of medals

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, SEPT 21.In an unprecedented action, the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) on Friday stripped two athletes of medals they had won in the inter-State championships here for having breached the eligibility rules while entering for States other than those of their parent units.

The athletes to suffer were Jharkhand hurdler M. Parthasarathi, who had won the silver in the 400m hurdles on Thursday, and Karnataka's M. V. Nagendra Prasad who had won the bronze in high jump on a countback after the top three tied at 2.05m.

Nagendra Prasad was excluded from the Karnataka team after he had finished second in the State championships with a mark of 1.96m. He made it here, however, and found a way to compete by entering from Uttar Pradesh.

This, at least until now, has been nothing new. The AAFI never had a problem of a Kerala athlete entering for Meghalaya or a Manipur athlete competing under the Delhi banner. The idea always was that irrespective of affiliations, athletes should not be allowed to suffer.

But on Thursday, following a Karnataka protest, the AAFI Executive decided to act tough and ruled that all those cases be reviewed and lower placings be upgraded. Thus, in both the 400m hurdles and high jump, the placings were altered.

So also in the case of six other athletes though these related to minor placings only. The fact remained that there were several athletes who competed for states other than those of their birth or place of residence or employment.

The AAFI Secretary, Mr. Lalit Bhanot, said that the federation had decided to put a stop to such practice of athletes entering from a unit of their choice. For good measure, a recommended rule of an athlete seeking prior permission was also talked about.

In the case of Nagendra Prasad, disciplinary grounds were cited by the Karnataka officials to seek his disqualification. Poor Nagendra, despite being one of the best high jumpers in the country with a SAF Games gold and several other prizes in his kitty, plus a personal best of 2.11m, he could not find a place in the Karnataka team.

He was told that the minimum qualififying height was 1.97 metres, just a centimetre above what he had achieved, after the event was over back home. Here, he was told he was not eligible to represent another State, more than 24 hours after the event was decided.

Nagendra alleged that he had been victimised since he had shown the guts to ask, in the company of a few other senior athletes, certain uncomfortable questions relating to allowances for the athletes.

When the AAFI itself has kept a starting height of 1.90, one wonders how the Karnataka association, almost as an afterthought, could rule that the qualifying mark was 1.97? That it happened to be just a centimetre above what Nagendra had achieved cannot be a coincidence either.

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Section  : Sport
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