Athletes can’t come out of the blue, they need to show consistency: Former AFI chief Adille Sumariwalla

The Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) reminder to its athletes on the mandatory minimum qualification criteria ahead of the Fed Cup came as a surprise to many. The Federation Cup, the season’s first national championship, is scheduled to take place from April 21-24 in Kochi.

The AFI had mandated athletes to compete in either the Indian Open Athletics Meet or the Indian Grand Prix (IGP) meets to meet minimum eligibility criteria.

Of eight Indian Open meets, the athletes still have two more meets - Ranchi (April 10), and Chennai (April 15) - ahead of the Fed Cup, a qualification meet for the Asian Championship in May.

AFI spokesperson and former president Adille Sumariwalla explains to The Bridge on the change, the expectation from its athletes, and how the Neeraj Chopra Classic is a much-deserved tribute to the living legend’s achievements.

Excerpts:

What are the new eligibility criteria for Fed Cup all about?

That information was there on the website for the last 3 months. The athletes have to take part in two mandatory competitions. There’s nothing new. It’s just a reminder that athletes don’t forget. We are providing you a platform. Everybody doesn’t have to take part in all the GPs; depending on what their coaches suggest, they can take part accordingly.

Some like to take part in one, some in all, some in two. We have created so many GPs over the years. They were created because athletes keep complaining that they get no competition. We are providing you with a platform. We are saying take part in at least two to be ready. Because if you want to run a big competition, you have to be ready.

You can not come out of the blue, run a fantastic national record, then when we send them to the Asian Games and Olympics, they fail miserably. We want to see some consistency. That is why we created this, three months ago, so that we can look at two competitions.

And if somebody thinks they need more events, then we are ready to add more events to the GPs. We are doing this for the athletes.

Last week, at the Indian Open meet in Sangrur, Punjab, we saw a poor response from the athletes. Only two athletes competed in both men’s and women’s 10km, and women’s high jump saw only one participant.

That doesn’t make a difference. These meets are preparatory meets. You don’t get medals or certificates. These are events to build up for big events.

Who will be exempt from the minimum qualification rule?

Only athletes who are training in the international camps or in the Indian camps will be given any sort of leeway. Depending on the discussion with their coaches. For example, Gulveer Singh is running national record after national record. He’s got a training programme in place. Therefore, if someone like Gulveer asks for an exception, after speaking with his coach, we may give him the benefit.

I will not get into individuals, there is a policy on the website that will be followed.

The Neeraj Chopra Classic - the name of the tournament- is that a tribute to his achievements? How many athletes are expected to take part?

Neeraj Chopra is the country’s first Olympic gold medalist in athletics. There is no athlete in Indian history to achieve what he has achieved. We celebrate August 7, the day he won Olympic gold, as National Javelin Day.

His achievements are far greater than those of the old athletes we keep talking about. Nobody has what he has. They have a fourth place max. He has two Olympic medals, a World Championship medal, and whatnot. What this boy has done for us, hats off to him. He deserves whatever he is getting.

And every international athlete that is invited will be here.