Athletes in 32 events will have to compete on muddy turf at the OEF Arena in Kanpur for the UP Under-20 State Championships in Athletics which will take place from Sunday (May 15) to Tuesday (May 17).
This is because the host Uttar Pradesh Athletics Federation has been unable to purchase a stadium equipped with international facilities, even as it is mandated for such events by the Indian Athletics Federation.
On the other hand, athletes from 10 other events, including five women’s, will have access to state-of-the-art facilities.
Players selected on the basis of three-day state championships at two different venues will be selected to take part in the FA Junior 20 National Cup (June 2-4), a qualifying event for the World Championships in Athletics scheduled from June 1-4. 6th August. . In cali Colombia).
Ten events, including the 100m and 400m hurdles, 3000m hurdles, high jump and pole vault, will be held at the Hendon Air Terminal sports complex in Ghaziabad. The place has an artificial track and other facilities of international standards. Athletes from 32 other events will try their luck for a spot on the UP team at OEF Stadium, where grass cutting and ground grading only began Friday morning.
“It is difficult but we have no choice as UPAA has been denied to hold events at all three venues in Lucknow including one at Sports Authority of India and one at Guru Gobind Singh Sports College,” the UPAA secretary said on Friday. , PK Srivastava. He refused to accept that the sports body was responsible for the situation.
“SAI allowed us to run some events even though we were ready to run a hammer throw event with a broken cage. The authorities of the Faculty of Sports did not respond to our request to accommodate the athletes on campus,” Srivastava said.
“We were told that our athletes were not disciplined and created chaos during the last meeting there,” he added.
“As per the policy of the Athletics Federation of India, we do not provide accommodation and lodging facilities for athletes to meet, although we do charge a fee. R500 as entry fee to the event. A large crowd of athletes must gather in one place during the meeting.
“Yes, it is mandatory to hold the event in a stadium with an artificial track, but due to lack of availability we are forced to hold it now on a grass track,” he added.
SAI CEO Sanjay Saraswat said UPAA was offered limited facilities to hold the event on campus, but wanted accommodation and dining facilities for the athletes, which was not possible with many other sports camps. nationals, including athletes from the National Center of Excellence, happening here as well.
“The hammer throw cage has some issues, but we’re not here to even provide a timer, etc. We can only provide accommodation facilities for a limited number of people, but not all of them because we have athletes training here,” Sarsat said.
SS Mishra, the university’s interim athletic director, also refused to accept his refusal to authorize UPAA to hold the event on campus.
“Over 500 athletes were walking around college campuses and lying around all over the place at night during the last tournament here. If anything happened to any of them, we would take responsibility,” Mishra said.
“UPAA must make arrangements for athlete boarding before any event takes place. We have just made these suggestions, which UPAA did not accept. They decided on their own not to hold the event here in Lucknow. In fact, these facilities are only for athletics, Mishra said: he is also the Deputy Director of the UP Sports Directorate. Everyone is welcome to hold events here, but properly.
Some athletes have also criticized the UPAA for “not” holding all events in one stadium.
Yesterday we learned of the rapid change of state meeting places. “Now we are struggling with our last-minute reservations for other sites,” said one athlete, who asked not to be identified.
“How can I reach the qualifying mark for the national championship when I have to race on a grass track?” he asked her.
