Over 100 barred from jr nationals for being overage

NEW DELHI: More than 100 athletes, a majority of them from Uttar Pradesh, were found overage in the 34th Junior National Athletics Championships held in Ranchi from November 2-4. The season-ending competition was held in the U-14, U-16, U-18 and U-20 categories in both boys’ and girls’ section.

As many as 45 athletes from UP were suspended by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) medical panel. Rajiv Khattri, a panel official, said, a report had been submitted to the AFI. “Almost all the barred athletes had submitted fudged age certificates. This time the screening was thorough,” said Khattri.

Besides UP, athletes from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Bihar were also suspended. The list of barred athletes could have been higher had Haryana not dropped some 20-odd overage athletes during the state trials. “We are trying to cleanse the system,” said Khattri.

“After doping, overage has become a major concern. The screening process will have more impact if state units also support the movement,” said an AFI official requesting anonymity. Uttar Pradesh Athletics Association (UPAA) secretary, PK Srivastava, hit out at the AFI medical panel saying, “There is a deliberate move to malign my image. Proper screening wasn’t done. Because of this, my state could not bag the team title. We generally have good results in U-14, U-16 and U-18 groups. But this time around we missed the team trophy.”