AFI postpones National Inter State Athletics Championships

The National Inter-State Athletics Championships, scheduled to be held in Kolkata next month, has been postponed due to a lot of factors, including West Bengal Athletics Association's inability to host the event during the specified period. Besides, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) also took into consideration opinions of a number of national coaches, who were of the view that Indian athletes would be unable to replicate their performances in the IAAF World Championships because of the huge gap between the two events.

The National Inter-State Athletics Championships is a qualifying event for the IAAF World Championships, scheduled to be held in Doha from September 28 to October 6. "As per the AFI competition calendar, the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships was to be held from July 14-17. In this connection, it is intimated that majority coaches in the national camp have opined that the gap between National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships and IAAF World Championships is rather considered more than it should normally be," the AFI said in a circular dated June 1.

"They feel that the athletes may not be able to repeat their performances in IAAF World Championships if National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships is conducted as per schedule. Moreover, West Bengal Athletics Association has also expressed its inability to host this Championships at Kolkata on the said dates. "In view of the above and keeping in mind the interest of the athletes, National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships has been postponed," added the circular signed by AFI secretary C K Valson.

The AFI further said fresh dates and venue of the championships will be intimated later.

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