AFI not happy with India’s show in Worlds

Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 12

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has expressed its disappointment at the performance of the country’s athletes in the recently concluded IAAF World Championships in London and has conveyed its displeasure to chief coach Bahadur Singh.

“AFI is not satisfied with the performance of most of the athletes at the IAAF World Championships in London and it is being mentioned clearly to the chief coach Bahadur Singh. The performance of our athletes was poor,” AFI president Adille J Sumariwalla said while announcing a host of measures discussed by the committee for planning, coaching, monitoring and implementation during its two-day meeting at the NIS, Patiala.    

The meeting apart from reviewing the performance of each athlete, who participated in the World Championships, also discussed the ways to strictly monitor the working of its coaches at various national camps and setting up of monitoring teams.

“The working of coaches will be strictly monitored and coaches will be held accountable for the performances of the athletes. The targets for athletes will also be set in advance and those attaining qualifying standards set by AFI for Asian Games and CWG 2018 will be selected in the team. Our focus is on Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; winning medals at Asian competitions and area championships is not enough,” said Sumariwalla. 

The AFI planning committee also identified events to focus on ahead of the Commonwealth Games, which will be hosted by Australia from April 4-15 next year, and Asian Games, scheduled to be held at Jakarta, Indonesia, from August 18 to September 2, 2018.

Road map ahead

The working of coaches will be strictly monitored and coaches will be held accountable for the performances of the athletes. The targets for athletes will also be set in advance and those attaining qualifying standards set by AFI for Asian Games and CWG 2018 will be selected in the team. Our focus is on Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; winning medals at Asian competitions and area championships is not enough. — Adille J Sumariwalla, AFI president