Chandigarh,jan 8
Long-jump great Anju Bobby George was on Wednesday named chairperson of the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) nine-strong athletes commission that features six women with javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra being its most prominent male member.The other women in the new panel are runner Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, discus thrower Krishna Poonia, hurdler MD Valsamma, steeplechaser Sudha Singh and runner Sunita Rani.
Anju, a 2003 world championships bronze-winner, is also a senior vice president in the AFI. All of them are retired and their induction is a noteworthy milestone in the AFI’s quest for gender parity in its set-up. The previous commission featured four women.The commission was unveiled on Wednesday after the elections held in October last year. Two-time Olympic medal-winning Neeraj Chopra is one of the four nominated members after consultations by the AFI’s executive council.
The other two male members of the commission are 3,000M steeplechaser Avinash Sable and newly-elected AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo, a shot put gold medal winner at 2002 Asian Games. Sagoo was the chairman of the previous commission.
Outgoing AFI treasurer Madhu Kant Pathak, who was the returning officer for the elections, said the polls were held after following due process. “Election notification was issued and other rules and regulations were followed. Five members were elected.”Later, after consultation with the executive council, four members including Neeraj and Sable were added as Athletes Commission member. Both Neeraj and Sable initially said that they will not be able to give much time as they are active athletes but they accepted,” said Pathak.
Sumariwalla made ex-officio member
Outgoing AFI President Adille Sumariwalla will continue to be a part of the executive council as an ex-officio member as he is a part of the World Athletics Council.The 67-year-old, who served as AFI president for three consecutive terms from 2012, is currently an executive board member of World Athletics — the international governing body of the sport.
