A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday took the Athletic Federation of India (AFI) to task for denying athlete P.U. Chithra an opportunity to participate in the IAAF World Championships.
When an appeal filed by the AFI against a single judge’s directive to ensure participation of the athlete in the championships came up, the Bench asked how would the AFI benefit by not sending Chithra, who had won gold in the Asian Athletic Championships, to the world championships.
Oral observation
The court orally observed that the objective of the AFI was to encourage athletes to achieve new heights. The court wondered whether “the expert committee” (AFI) was encouraging sports. It was “not selecting athletes for the event but trying to eliminate athletes”.
In fact, the federation was finding false reasons to disallow the athlete to participate in the world championships. This was demoralising young athletes. An athlete in her younger age did the maximum to achieve new heights. But merely because she did not perform on a particular day, she was excluded from the Indian team.
An opportunity would come in the way of athletes only once in a lifetime. If they missed a chance, they won’t get it again. Therefore, the body responsible should show “much more responsibility”while selecting athletes.
The court further observed that the federation had ignored the achievements of Chithra. “Why the AFI found fault with her, rather than giving her a chance to perform in the world championships,” the court wondered.
The court, however, allowed the appeal filed by the AFI seeking to set aside the directive of the single judge to ensure the participation of Chithra in the world championships.
The Bench, while allowing the appeal, observed that the interim directive of the single judge was “a futile exercise” as no entries could have been sent after July 23, the deadline fixed for sending entries.
Referring to an open letter by the AFI that had stipulated participation in the Inter State Championships in Guntur as IAAF qualifying standards, the court orally observed that despite this stance, some athletes who did not participate in the Guntur meet found place in the Indian team.
The court also issued notice to the AFI on a contempt of court petition filed by Chithra against officials of the federation alleging that the AFI had not complied with the court directive to ensure her participation in the world championships.