KOCHI: The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Monday approached the Kerala High Court seeking to set aside the order of the Single Judge directing to ensure the participation of P U Chitra in the IAAF World Championships.Though the AFI sought permission to move the appeal as urgent, the Division Bench declined and observed there was no urgency in the matter.
AFI said the Single Judge wrongly interpreted an open letter by the president to say two candidates, Swapna Barman and G Laxmanan, who did not participate in the championships in Guntur, have been included in the Indian team. The judge had no evidence on record to verify it. Athlete Swapna Barman was into Heptathlon (women) discipline in Guntur where an athlete has to participate in seven events in two days and performance is marked on their performance in each of the events. The team coaches decided to enrol her in long jump at Guntur as they did not want to burn her out. Despite being a heptathlete, she finished third. Swapna Barman has a world ranking of 42, which convinced the selection committee to include her.
G Laxmanan runs 5,000 m and 10,000 m in the men’s category. He won two gold medals in the two events at the Asian Championships in four days. Though he did not achieve the qualification standard for the world championship, he was selected since his performance in 5,000 m race at Guntur was outstanding. In the Guntur meet, Chitra finished second in the 5,000 m race. It was improbable for the committee to send her entry since she was not even number one in the country.
Besides, the Kerala High Court has no jurisdiction to consider the petition as the championship, which the petitioner claims to have given her the right to participate in the World Championships, was held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and the team selection was carried out by the committee in New Delhi. The judge cannot compare an athlete’s performance in 1,500 m race against their performance in heptathlon or 10,000 m race. The order of the Single Judge was impossible to implement as the international body decides the last dates for sending entries and not the AFI, the petition stated.
