Tribune Impact: Federation to file FIR against banned athlete who took part under new name

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has decided to file an FIR against banned athlete Sachin Poswal for possessing a number of Aadhaar cards that were used to obtain new athlete identification cards.

The decision came three days after the Tribune reported his case in a story titled ‘Banned athlete hoodwinks federation for the third time’.

This issue was openly discussed by top AFI officials in New Delhi on Friday when they met to deliberate on a decentralised training model for athletes.

AFI’s former president and now spokesperson, Adille Sumariwalla, said they will formally file a complaint with the police.

“Nobody knows his real name. He has changed his name so many times. He has even changed his father’s name. What more can I say when he is not ready to recognize even his father? He is such a cheat,” Sumariwalla said on the sidelines of the meeting. “By changing Aadhaar cards two or three times—somebody here said he has four!!—we are going the legal route. We are filing a police complaint. We will file an FIR soon. Let the law take its course,” he added.

Further, the AFI has decided to institute an internal inquiry to see whether he got help from a staffer. “We will also institute an internal inquiry, which is a separate issue. He is not to be found anywhere. We sent people where he is supposed to be living as per his Aadhaar card. Let the police do their job,” he said.

Sachin, who is serving a four-year suspension, took part in the National Junior (U20) Federation Athletics Championships 2025 in both the 1500 and 3000-meter heats under a new name -- Rachin Gujjar. He topped preliminary Heat 1 in the 1500m with a time of 3:56.53 seconds but finished 16th in the 3000m.

However, when this correspondent sought clarification as to how a suspended athlete was allowed to take part in the championships, he was shown as a disqualified athlete in the 1500m result sheet. Sachin alias Rachin, with a date of birth of 28-12-2005, has been successful twice in taking part in national meets.

In June last year, he participated in the Delhi State Summer Athletics Meet and competed in the men’s 1500m, finishing fourth. And again last December, Sachin changed his name to Sachin Gurjar and competed in the U-20 8-kilometer run and finished third in the Delhi State Cross-Country Championships. He had a different date of birth and father’s name as per his fresh identification by the AFI.