Sports ministry urges IOA to ease norms for Asiad squad

NEWDELHI: The Indian contingent bound for Asian Games in Jakarta is expected to swell.

On July 3, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced a 524-member squad. Since then, some athletes and federations, including All India Football Federation (AIFF), have complained over not being considered for the continental showpiece starting on August 18.

Following the concerns of the athletes as well as teams who have marginally missed the cut in terms of government criteria — sixth spot in the last Games or latest continental event in individual events and eighth for team events — the sports ministry has urged IOA to relax norms in specific cases ‘in the larger interest of the sports and sportspersons’.

The ministry, in a letter to the IOA on Wednesday, said that the Olympic body in consultation with particular federations may

reassess the earlier decision on sending entries if those ineligible disciplines have performed consistently for six months, but have not made it to the contingent due to lack of exposure, but at the same time, they have a strong chance of fin-

ishing in the top four.

“Based on the recommendations of the IOA, the ministry may consider including disciplines/athletes” in the 2018 Asian Games contingent, the letter from the sports ministry added.

MEN’S U-23 SQUAD HOLD BELGIUM

ANTWERP, BELGIUM: India’s U-23 men’s team were held to a 1-1 draw by Belgium in their third round robin match of the Five Nations Tournament here. India had a mixed bag of results in their first two matches of the tournament as they beat Ireland 5-0 in their first match, but lost 1-3 to Great Britain in the second match.