The Hindu : Sport : Caps removed for some disciplines

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 14, 2005

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

Caps removed for some disciplines

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has removed the cap for the number of disciplines to be included in a particular edition of the Games.

The CGF Sports Commission, meeting in Melbourne during the CGF session between April 4 and 9, decided to do away with the upper limit of 15 disciplines for the Games, paving the way for India to increase the number for the 2010 Games to be held here.

A 15-member Indian delegation, including Union Government, Delhi State Government and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) representatives, who attended the meeting in Melbourne returned here on Tuesday night after making a presentation about the 2010 Games for the benefit of the CGF delegates.

"The presentation was very well received. We had an opportunity to go around and see the venues (for the Melbourne Games in 2006) and learn from their organisational structure," said the IOA Treasurer, A. K. Mattoo, about the Melbourne meetings and presentation.

On behalf of the IOA, its President, Suresh Kalmadi, made the presentation, before rushing off to attend the Executive Council meeting of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) at Doha on April 9.

Ratan Wattal, Director-General, Sports Authority of India (SAI), explained the Union Government's plans, while D. Sarkar (Director, DDA) and O. P. Kelkar, Principal Secretary, Urban Development, presented the preparations being made by the DDA and the Delhi State Government respectively.

Mr. Mattoo, who is also the Treasurer of the 2010 Commonwealth Games organising committee, said that the IOA would be going back to the CGF with its final list of disciplines sometime in 2006.

The IOA had originally proposed athletics, lawn bowls, net bowls, rugby 7s, swimming (diving and synchronised swimming included), badminton, boxing, cycling, men's hockey, gymnastics, shooting, squash, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

It had also kept basketball and cricket as two other possible disciplines for inclusion. Cricket's eventual inclusion will depend on its governing body assuring that the top players would be fielded.

Further inclusion will depend on the strength of the Indian team in that sport compared to the rest of the Commonwealth countries. The federations will have to make out a strong case about India's medal chances in a given sport for it to stake a claim.

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