Asian Games 2018: IOA submits list of 906 athletes, up to 300 face the axe

IOA and SAI decided that at least 250 to 300 out of the 900 names will be removed from the Asian Games 2018 contingent before June 30.

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Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

Another selection controversy stares the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Sports Ministry in the face, after the former, on Tuesday, submitted a jumbo list of 906 athletes in 40 sports for this year’s Asian Games in Indonesia. In a high-level meeting between the ministry, IOA and Sports Authority of India (SAI) here, it was decided that at least 250 to 300 names will be removed before June 30, the deadline to submit the contingent list to the organisers. The Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

A senior IOA official said the teams will be picked in accordance with the selection criteria laid down by the government in 2015, which lay emphasis on performance. These norms have been relaxed in certain cases, but a ministry official insisted they will be strictly implemented for the upcoming Asiad.

Curiously, this policy was enforced after the IOA had sent a bloated contingent list of 935 members, which included 662 athletes, four years ago for the Incheon Games. Back then, the issue reached the PMO, which eventually cleared most athletes.

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This year, however, the nomination of 906 athletes has raised a few eyebrows. “Right now, we have entries in all sports that will be played at the Asian Games. Of course, we won’t be sending all of them. At this stage, we have called for all potential competitors to ensure we do not miss out on any name, as was the case during the Commonwealth Games last month. By June 30, we will cut down the names to around 650,” an IOA official said after the meeting.

All entries will be vetted over the next one month and athletes who do not have a chance of a podium finish are likely to be on the chopping block. Fringe sports such as modern pentathlon, equestrian, roller sports, jet ski and paragliding, baseball and soft ball, soft tennis and a few forms of martial arts might be ignored altogether along with events like contract bridge, sailing and sport climbing.

Football is one of the high-profile sports which once again faces omission. It was a similar case four years ago but a timely intervention by All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel saved the day for the team.

They went on to lose all their matches, forcing the ministry to have a rethink over sending them again this time. However, with the Asian Cup barely four months after the Jakarta-Palembang Games, it is argued that the Asiad is a necessary exposure for the team.