CHENNAI: On October 9, Volker Herrmann, on his Facebook page, wrote that the team had begun Athlete Federation of India's (AFI) route map to excel at the 2021 Games. "We just started our preparation for #tokyo2020 Performance tracking of the Indian athletes and a rewarding discussion with our coaches," he wrote.
Yet, within a month of that post, the German, the high-performance director of the AFI, decided to leave his post. On Saturday evening, Volker announced on Facebook that he had resigned three weeks ago.
"After one and a half fruitful and inspiring years in India, the day has come when I could not any longer meet the self-imposed expectations coming along with the role of AFI’s high-performance director, which is why I resigned from my position three weeks ago," he explained.
"Working in high-performance sports requires a high level of expectations. Numerous athletes and teams all around the world, supported by their coaches and staff, are competing with the one goal to be the best at a particular date. The only one will succeed.
"I believe that athletics in India has a great future ahead of it. It requires a conducive and likewise sustainable infrastructure to support its countless talented athletes and coaches. It also needs players with a strong, confident, and independent mindset to succeed at world stage."
Considering Volker was busy plotting the road map for his wards to excel in Tokyo, it's puzzling what happened in the interim. Volker confirmed about the development, however, it is understood that it was settled in an amicable way. The federation didn't want to comment on this.