Reports | SAI to conduct selection trials for Gymnastics World Championships after deadline
According to recent reports. the Sports Authority of India (SAI) is going to conduct the selection trials for the upcoming Artistic Gymnastics World Championships after the deadline had expired. The deadline for sending the entries was September 27 while the trials are scheduled for 29 and 30.
The power struggle between SAI and the unrecognized Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) has a brand new chapter. SAI has announced that it will be conducting the selection trials at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi on September 29 and 30 while the last date for entry of the names for the prestigious tournament is September 27.
The directive received by the international gymnastics federation (FIG) read, “Past the deadline of September 27, the FIG online nominative registration will reopen from October 1 until October 8 should national federation have to modify the composition of their delegation.”
Both SAI and the federation were unsure about the dates and failed to know that the October deadline was only for modification of the entries while they had to send the entries before September 27.
“We believe the federation would have entered some names by now. We are not at fault,”
“So far, we have not sent any names. We were never supposed to do so in the absence of any clear instructions from the SAI,” stated an official of the GFI.
The World Championship is an important stage for all the gymnasts who are seriously considering getting a medal in Tokyo Olympics, even though a good show in the championship does not give athletes a direct ticket to the Olympics.
Owing to non-resolution of internal governance and administration issues, GFI continues to be
Two Indian gymnasts - Aruna Budda Reddy and Ashish Kumar - have decided not to participate in the championships as they want to concentrate on the FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup to be held in Germany in November.