The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is the national governing body for Athletics sport in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and is responsible for conducting competitions in the country. It was formed in 1943. It is affiliated to

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

and

Asian Athletics Association The Asian Athletics Association is the continental governing body for the sport of athletics in Asia. It is headquartered in Singapore. It organises the Asian Championships in Athletics and other continental competitions. The current president Qa ...

(AAA). It was formerly called as Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI).

History

Athletics Federation of India, then Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI), was formed in 1946 at the initiative of Prof. G.D. Sondhi and Maharaja Yadvindra Singh. Prof. G.D. Sondhi was its first President for a short while, resigning on 13 April 1950.

Competitions

AFI organises following national level Athletics compitions annually, periodically in the country: * National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Compition * Indian Open Reacewalking compition * Indian Open

Javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the wom ...

compition * National Federation Cup under-20 Athletics championships * National Inter-state senior Athletics championships * National Javelin Throw Compition * North Zone Junior Athletics championship * Indian open 400m compition * South zone junior Athletics championship * West zone junior Athletics championship * East zone junior Athletics championship * National youth Athletics championship * National open athletics championship * Indian open Under 23 Athletics compition * National junior Athletics championship * National Inter-district junior Athletics meet. * Source -

Controversies

AFI has been under pressure for the last several years due to doping scandals. The entire women's relay that won gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games were tested positive for anabolic steroid. The governing body's selection process for international teams have received public criticism. PU Chitra, Ajay Kumar Saroj and Sudha Singh were excluded from the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

despite being eligible for entry by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

(the global governing body). Chitra lodged an appeal to the Kerala High Court in July 2017, though she was ultimately excluded as the court's request for inclusion was beyond the selection cut-off date. Commentator KP Mohan believed the right decision had been made to not include Chitra and several other Asian champions, given their low international ranking at that time, though he stated the controversy could have been avoided if the AFI had made its selection criteria clear before the start of the athletics season.Mohan, KP (2017-07-31)
Utter mess: India’s athletics body took the right call with PU Chitra but handled it poorly
Scroll. Retrieved 2020-03-03.

Footnotes

References

External links

AFI web site

Competition Manual
{{National Members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Athletics in India Sports governing bodies in India National members of the Asian Athletics Association Sports organizations established in 1946 1946 establishments in India