Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya (ANI Image)
New Delhi: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday clarified that the number of athletes participating in the Asian Games in September will be capped at 600 and that only those who can perform well in the continental championships will be eligible to make the trip to Japan.While Mandavia made it clear that the Asian Games were not the way to go for ‘familiarity rounds’, he told the media that the policy of selection trials being videotaped and supervised by independent observers had proven crucial.
After that, athletes in the top six in the continental rankings will be eligible. This interruption disqualified Indian football teams from qualifying for the Aichi-Nagoya Games.“The Asian Games is not an exhibition tour, but a platform for athletes to make the country proud with their best performances. So, as I have said time and again, only those who can perform will travel,” he said.He continued: “Experience can be gained elsewhere. It does not have to be the Asian Games. Anyone looking to secure jobs through participation certificates will not be purged. The Games are about performance and we will ensure that.”
“The Ministry supports Anush Agarwala”On the same platform, Mandaviya highlighted the always controversial selection process that precedes multiple sporting events. This time, paddler
Manika Batra
Equestrian Anoush Aggarwala caused a huge uproar by not being selected.While Batra questioned the process itself, Aggarwala filed a petition in the Delhi High Court after the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI)’s ad hoc committee decided to disqualify him.
After the Delhi HC dismissed the petition, it is being heard by a division bench.According to the source, the Ministry of Sports will support his inclusion despite the initial legal setback.The Delhi HC dismissed the petitions of Agarwala and Sudipti Hajela who objected to the calculation of minimum eligibility requirements (MERs), interpretation of selection criteria, absence of additional selection trials and made allegations of bias in the selection panel.The Ministry of Sports clarified that the lists published by the national sports federations after the trials “represent only the list recommended/selected by the federation that arose from the internal selection process.”The ministry source explained, “Such a list does not constitute the final Indian unity approved by the government.”“Names recommended by NSF remain subject to scrutiny by the IOA, screening by SAI and final approval by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs.”“…Only athletes, coaches and support staff named in the sanction order issued by MYAS (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports) will be treated as members of the official Indian contingent for the Asian Games,” the source added.
