NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA), expectedly, found no place for football in its list of teams cleared to compete in the upcoming Asian Games, but did add eight less well nown disciplines, arguing they have “shown promise”.
While clearing 36 disciplines for the Asian Games, the IOA added karate, kurash, pencak silat, roller skating, sambo, sepak takraw, triathlon and soft tennis to the list. The 524-member contingent features 277 men and 247 women athletes.
Pertinently, disciplines like kurash and sambo do not even figure in the list of national sports federations recognised by the Union Sports Ministry, PTI reports.
“Eight new sports disciplines have been added to the contingent where the country has shown promise,” IOA said, while announcing a 524-member contingent of athletes for the August 18-September 2 Asian Games in Indonesia.
The contingent included 277 men and 247 women. In the 2014 Incheon Games, the Indian contingent featured 541 athletes across 30 disciplines.
IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta said: “The contingent has been selected keeping in mind the Indian Olympic Association’s long term vision of preparing and encouraging the most deserving athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics based on them attaining qualification criteria.”
The IOA has decided against sending the men’s and women’s football teams this time, as they did not finish within top eight in the previous Asian Games. The decision has led to a controversy, with All India Football Federation (AIFF) calling IOA’s decision “myopic”.
On Monday, the AIFF lashed out at the IOA, saying: “We get to know from media reports and from various quarters that our men and women’s teams have not been cleared.”
The contingent will see athletes from a total of 36 sports, namely Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Bowling, Canoe-Kayak (Sprint), Canoe-Kayak (Slalom), Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Gymnastics, Golf, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Karate, Kurash, Pencak Silat, Roller Skating, Rowing, Sailing, Sambo, Sepaktakraw, Shooting, Squash, Aquatics – Swimming, Aquatics – Diving, Tennis, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Soft Tennis, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling and Wushu.
Athletics will have the highest number of representation with a total of 52 members participating.
Earlier in June, the IOA had submitted a provisional list to the Sports Ministry which consisted a total of 2,370 athletes and officials combined. However, the final list has now been pruned down further to 524 members, which includes the most deserving athletes who have attained the qualification criteria in their respective disciplines. In the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, the Indian contingent featured a total of 541 athletes spread across 28 disciplines.
