Meerut: The two-day Annual General Meeting of the Athletics Federation of India concluded here on Sunday. The AGM of the federation, after the Executive Council’s meeting held here on April 11, was the first such meeting to be held outside Delhi in recent times.
There were several important decisions taken during the General Body meeting after detailed deliberations. The AFI will be launching the National Schools Athletics Championships and the National Inter-Collegiate Athletics Championships in 2015. Both the marquee events will aim to create a springboard for the budding talent and also provide them lucrative prize money and selection for National camps. A few prominent broadcasters have contacted the AFI for the live telecast of the National Collegiate Athletics Championship. The Federation is also working on hosting an international India Grand Prix.
Commenting on this development, AFI President Adille J Sumariwalla said, “Motivating the children in the schools and the college youth will be the key to making athletics a mass sport. The AFI is confident that the National Schools Athletics Championships and the National Inter-Collegiate Athletics Championships will attract the cream of talent in the country and also support from sponsors and broadcasters.”
On hosting an international Grand Prix in India, Sumariwalla said, “The AFI is planning to bring a world-class event to India and we are already in touch with our counterparts in other countries and hopeful that they will send their top athletes to participate.”
In appreciation of their continuous effort in promoting athletics, Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) has been awarded full membership in the AFI.
In a major boost to the development of junior athletes training programme, the AFI has appointed Dronacharya awardee J S Bhatia who mentored the likes of the legendary PT Usha and Asian Games gold medallist Sudha Singh, as the Chief Coach of the Indian Junior Athletics Team. The federation also appointed Wazir Singh as the chief coach of the Indian Youth Athletics Team.
The AFI also made an amendment in its constitution to define the word – “Activities” for its affiliated state units. This has been done to activate the state units and ensure that the athletics programme in the states run continuously and effectively. A slew of activities have been incorporated under the definition of Activities, which is mandatory for all the affiliated units to carry out in the athletics calendar year. The voting rights of the state units will be withdrawn for three years if it fails to carry out the development activities under the new amendment.