Ministry asks IOA to reassess Asiad squad

The contingent finalisation for the upcoming Asian Games is turning out to be controversial and cumbersome.

There have been several changes to the list since Indian Olympic Association announced a 523-member contingent. And IOA on Wednesday said they will have a re-look at disciplines which had been left out at the behest of sports ministry’s selection guidelines.

Some National Sports Federations (NSF’s), including the football body, have expressed strong reservations on being left out in the basis of what they feel is flawed selection criterion. As per the present government guidelines laid down in 2015, the criteria are sixth place in individual event and eighth in team event.

On Wednesday the ministry in a letter to the IOA asked the governing body to reassess their decisions of sending entries in consultation with the specific NSF’s.

“There are disciplines that are not eligible for participation in Jakarta, but can be considered in the light of the fact that individual/team had been performing consistently for the past six months but could not qualify due to lack of enough exposure or participation in ranking events. They might have strong possibility of either winning a medal in the Asian Games or finishing in the top four. Based on the recommendation of the IOA, the ministry may consider including those discipline/athletes as part of the Indian contingent for Asian Games,” said the letter.