New Delhi: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya made clear on Thursday that the Asian Games contingent in September would be capped at 600 athletes and only those who can deliver in the continental showpiece will be eligible to make the trip to Japan.While making clear that the Asian Games are not the right avenue for “exposure tours,” Mandaviya told the media that the policy of selection trials being videographed and overseen by independent observers has proved crucial. Subsequently, athletes who are in the top-six in continental rankings would be eligible. Such a cut off has denied the Indian football teams from being eligible from the Games in Aichi-Nagoya.“Asian Games is not an exposure tour, it is a platform for athletes to make the country proud with their best performance. So, as I have repeatedly stated, only those who can deliver will travel,” he said.“Exposure can be gained elsewhere. It doesn’t have to be the Asian Games. Anyone looking to secure jobs through participation certificates will not be cleared. The Games are about performance and we will ensure that,” he continued.‘Ministry to back Anush Agarwalla’On the same platform, Mandaviya shed light on the ever-controversial selection process that precedes multi-sport events. This time, paddler Manika Batra and Equestrian Anush Agarwalla created furore over their non-selection.While Batra questioned the process itself, Agarwalla filed a petition in the Delhi High Court after Equestrian Federation of India’s (EFI) ad-hoc committee decided to leave him out. After the Delhi HC rejected the plea, it is being heard by a Division Bench.As per a source, the Sports Ministry will back his inclusion despite the initial legal setback.The Delhi HC had rejected Agarwalla and Sudipti Hajela’s petitions which had objected against the calculation of Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs), the interpretation of the selection criteria, the absence of additional selection trials and had made allegations of bias in the selection committee.The Sports Ministry has made it clear that lists published by the National Sports Federations (NSFs) after conducting trials “represents only the federation’s recommended/selected list arising out of its internal selection process.”“Such a list does not constitute the final Government-approved Indian contingent,” the Ministry source clarified.“The names recommended by the NSF remain subject to scrutiny by the IOA, examination by SAI and final approval by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.”“…only those athletes, coaches and support staff whose names are included in the Sanction Order issued by MYAS (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports) shall be treated as members of the official Indian contingent for the Asian Games,” the source added.
