MUMBAI: A few days later Indian Olympic Association Acting President Anil Khanna and Secretary General Sandeep Mehta contradicted his claim to be the new president of the AIO, Adille Sumariwalla stuck to his guns that he is indeed the boss of the organization.
“I’m the president, that’s all. There’s nothing to discuss,” the former sprinter, president of the Indian Athletics Federation since 2012, told reporters on Monday when announcing a sponsor partnering with AFI to support Indian female athletes. . Dismissing some of the statements by IOA officials who opposed his request, Sumariwalla said, “You can say whatever you want.” When told that there was a court order that the status quo should be maintained at the IOA, he shot back: “Show me the court order. There is no court order.”
Sumariwalla had recently said he had been appointed as the new president of the IOA by its executive council, following the resignation of Narinder Batra in July. However, Mehta and Khanna disagreed with his assertion.
Moving on, discus thrower Navjeet Dhillon Kaur failing a doping test means the scourge of doping still hasn’t ceased to plague Indian athletics, currently enjoying a purple spot due incredible exploits of the Olympic gold medalist from Tokyo. Neeraj Chopra and the rest. Sumariwalla felt the AFI was educating athletes about doping and had increased testing several times.
“Before I became president, we used to have 120 samples a year that we tested. Today we test over 1,500 samples. “If more people get tested, more people get caught. . Our idea is to catch more people. None of them (addicts) were in the (national) camp (when they used a banned substance). Everything that happened is outside the camp. In the camp, we test them every few days. Dhanalakshmi (the sprinter, who failed a doping test in May) admitted that when she went to Tamil Nadu someone gave her something. So we try to control it in the camp,” Sumariwalla explained.
However, he claimed there was little the AFI could do if an athlete decided to cheat. “AFI can only do two things. educate and test. But if you want to do something wrong, how can I stop you from cheating? It’s a moral issue. I can’t change your moral fabric,” he said. he pointed out.
Sumariwalla pointed out that women in the Indian outback still lived a very restricted life. He said it was important for female athletes in India to earn good money and lead luxurious lives, which could inspire girls in the country to take up sports professionally.
“I have personally visited perhaps a hundred districts in India. [In many places] The girls are not even allowed to leave their homes. So we have to make the change,” he said. “You need champions like Annu Rani, Hima Das or Dutee Chand. People say, “Dutee Chand drives a BMW (she sold it later), we should be able to drive a BMW too.” We want our athletes to succeed. We want them to make money so others see there is a future in sport, not just cricket.”
“I’m the president, that’s all. There’s nothing to discuss,” the former sprinter, president of the Indian Athletics Federation since 2012, told reporters on Monday when announcing a sponsor partnering with AFI to support Indian female athletes. . Dismissing some of the statements by IOA officials who opposed his request, Sumariwalla said, “You can say whatever you want.” When told that there was a court order that the status quo should be maintained at the IOA, he shot back: “Show me the court order. There is no court order.”
Sumariwalla had recently said he had been appointed as the new president of the IOA by its executive council, following the resignation of Narinder Batra in July. However, Mehta and Khanna disagreed with his assertion.
Moving on, discus thrower Navjeet Dhillon Kaur failing a doping test means the scourge of doping still hasn’t ceased to plague Indian athletics, currently enjoying a purple spot due incredible exploits of the Olympic gold medalist from Tokyo. Neeraj Chopra and the rest. Sumariwalla felt the AFI was educating athletes about doping and had increased testing several times.
“Before I became president, we used to have 120 samples a year that we tested. Today we test over 1,500 samples. “If more people get tested, more people get caught. . Our idea is to catch more people. None of them (addicts) were in the (national) camp (when they used a banned substance). Everything that happened is outside the camp. In the camp, we test them every few days. Dhanalakshmi (the sprinter, who failed a doping test in May) admitted that when she went to Tamil Nadu someone gave her something. So we try to control it in the camp,” Sumariwalla explained.
However, he claimed there was little the AFI could do if an athlete decided to cheat. “AFI can only do two things. educate and test. But if you want to do something wrong, how can I stop you from cheating? It’s a moral issue. I can’t change your moral fabric,” he said. he pointed out.
Sumariwalla pointed out that women in the Indian outback still lived a very restricted life. He said it was important for female athletes in India to earn good money and lead luxurious lives, which could inspire girls in the country to take up sports professionally.
“I have personally visited perhaps a hundred districts in India. [In many places] The girls are not even allowed to leave their homes. So we have to make the change,” he said. “You need champions like Annu Rani, Hima Das or Dutee Chand. People say, “Dutee Chand drives a BMW (she sold it later), we should be able to drive a BMW too.” We want our athletes to succeed. We want them to make money so others see there is a future in sport, not just cricket.”
