Can always get the names of athletes replaced under special circumstance, says IOA official

SportsCafe Desk
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The controversy surrounding the gymnasts Mohammad Bobby and Gaurav Kumar has intensified as a top IOA official has come out and said that they can always replace the names under special circumstances. The official added that the final say lies with the GFI on whom to send to the CWG next month.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) along with the Gymnastics Federation India (GFI), came under some serious scrutiny following the decision to overlook the likes of Uttar Pradesh Based gymnasts’ Mohammad Bobby and Gaurav Kumar. The governing bodies had argued that since the two individuals did not possess a ‘FIG licence’ which is mandatory for participants, they could not be added to the contingent to travel to for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

Now in a dramatic turn of events, a top IOA official said that there could still be an outside chance that the duo can be included in the CWG squad to compete in the competition next month. The official added that the IOA could always get the names of athletes replaced under special circumstances.

“But we can’t do much on our own since the IOA only acts as a post office between the sports federations and the organisers. We all know that this licence issue can be sorted out in just a day by the GFI,” 

“We received a letter from the gymnastics’ international body (FIG) stating not to interfere in the selection matters, so we didn’t. Our selection committee had originally named Bobby, Gaurav along with Ashish in the men’s squad. But the GFI replaced their names with Patra and Yogeshwar, citing the licence issue. We couldn’t have done much and sent their names to the organisers. Now, it all depends on the GFI whether they are really interested in sending the deserving candidates who topped the trials,” the IOA official said in an interview to TOI.

The IOA functionary said that the ‘National Olympics Committee’ (NOC) could always help the gymnasts out in order to help the gymnasts’ duo make the squad at the CWG in Gold Coast.

The IOA already sent a 222-member list of the Indian contingent, which also included the gymnastic contingent to the CWG officials. March 7 was the cut-off date to do so, but if they wanted they could always get the names replaced or changed under special circumstances or in case of injury to a travelling participant.

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