KOCHI: Asian Champion PU Chitra, who was omitted from the World Championship squad, got relief on Friday when the Kerala High Court directed the Athletics Federation and Union Sports Ministry to ensure her participation in the 1500m event in the London edition of the biennial event.
Chitra had approached the court saying that her exclusion on the ground that she didn’t participate in the inter-state meet in Guntur five days after winning gold in the Asian Championship was arbitrary. The court accepted this contention and passed the order in the athlete’s favour, directing the concerned officials to ensure her participation in the event, slated to begin from August 5.
“The materials on record thus disclose that the petitioner has been sidelined and discriminated against. Such opportunities come the way of an athlete only once in a lifetime and if they miss the chance, they may not get it again,” the judgement read.
Chitra welcomed the decision and hoped that she can participate in the event. “I was sad when the AFI ruled me out of the squad. This is a big event and for a budding athlete like me, it’s a great chance to run there. Now I feel happy and hope that I can run for the country in London,” she said. The verdict, meanwhile, was a rap on the knuckles of the AFI.
Rarely do athletes take the federation to court over selection woes. With National Sports Code giving some immunity to the federations over legal procedures pertaining to team selection, normally courts give weightage to the claims made by the sports bodies. However, in Chitra’s case, the court observed that the discretion exercised by the AFI selection panel was arbitrary.
“This is a landmark verdict. Usually the athletes are unwilling to take the AFI to docks because they think the federation is invincible. Anu Raghavan busted this myth by questioning her Rio Olympics omission in court. Though she didn’t get immediate relief and was forced to miss the event, it reinforced the morale of the athletes. The AFI should know that they no longer can work in their old style by muzzling athletes.
This should be an eye-opener,” a senior official of Kerala State Athletics Association commented.
Meanwhile, the verdict has put the AFI in a quandary. With the last date of submitting entries well over, the top bosses are unsure how to comply with the court order.
“For us, Chitra’s road to London is already closed. The last date to submit the entry was July 23. Now we can’t do anything. Still, we will request the IAAF and see what they can do. But there seems to be little chance of her being included,” AFI secretary C K Valson said.
The AFI on the other hand has confirmed sprinter Dutee Chand’s participation in 100m. This was done after the IAAF confirmed that the Odisha sprinter was ranked within 50 in the world. The top 56 can compete in the event though they haven’t met the qualification mark.
shan@newindianexpress.com