All posts tagged: Adille

‘No MoU between Russian Athletics and AFI,’ confirms Adille J Sumariwalla

‘No MoU between Russian Athletics and AFI,’ confirms Adille J Sumariwalla

Published by Webster

The Athletics Federation of India has debunked speculations surrounding the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its Russian counterpart. Adille J Sumariwalla, Vice President of World Athletics, stepped in to deny the existence of any formal agreement between the two federations. “Contrary to incorrect media reports, I can categorically confirm that there is no Memorandum of Understanding between Russian Athletics and the Athletics Federation of India and no Russian athlete will compete in India while World Athletics’ sanctions that exclude Russian athletes, officials and supporting personnel from competition remain in place,” Sumariwalla confirmed on Thursday. “We all hope there is a resolution soon to Russia’s war on Ukraine, and we stand by to re-engage with Russian Athletics as soon as this comes to pass,” he added. The Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) had written on Instagram that its officials – Executive Director Boris Yaryshevsky and General Secretary Alexander Georgadze – recently visited India and met Athletics Federation of India (AFI) officials. “Russian athletes will be able to compete in national competitions in India, while …

World Athletics VP Adille Sumariwalla makes shocking claim on athletics infrastructure in country

World Athletics VP Adille Sumariwalla makes shocking claim on athletics infrastructure in country

Published by Webster

4 min readApr 18, 2026 08:41 PM IST Athletics Federation of India (AFI) spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla has made a startling claim that 90 percent of the synthetic tracks used in the country currently are substandard in terms of material, laying and marking. Sumariwalla added that the governing body was unhappy with the infrastructure quality that has been certified in India, adding that the federation would look to ensure that all requirements are met. “I’m not going to name the tracks, but I can tell you 90% plus tracks in India are substandard material-wise, laying-wise, marking-wise. We had a meeting with World Athletics in Tokyo (last year during World Championships), they showed us some data, which was quite shocking,” Sumariwalla said during a virtual press conference. “The material used is substandard, the process is substandard, the granules used are substandard, the laying methodology is substandard.” During the Annual General meeting of AFI in Kohima on April 14 and 15, the federation decided to get involved in the track certification. “They (World Athletics) were not happy with …

90% of Indian tracks substandard: AFI spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla

90% of Indian tracks substandard: AFI spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla

Published by Webster

In a shocking revelation, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) spokesperson Dr Adille Sumariwalla saidthat over 90 percent of tracks in India are substandard and are now under the scanner. Sumariwalla confirmed that most Indian tracks are substandard in terms of materials, construction, and even measurements. “Over 90% of tracks in India are sub-standard whether it is the laying methodology, thickness, or the material used. In some cases, tyre rubber is used instead of proper polyurethane,” he said while addressing the media in New Delhi on Saturday. He pointed out that after insistence from World Athletics, the AFI will have to be involved in the process and intensify testing of tracks. “AFI was never involved and stayed away from it for a long time. The way the tracks have been awarded is not something we want to get into. We’ve never certified any track ever,” Sumariwalla said. “We stayed away from certification, but now World Athletics has asked us to step in, so we will have to in future. They showed us some data during the …

Former AFI chief Adille Sumariwalla

Former AFI chief Adille Sumariwalla

Published by Webster

The Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) reminder to its athletes on the mandatory minimum qualification criteria ahead of the Fed Cup came as a surprise to many. The Federation Cup, the season’s first national championship, is scheduled to take place from April 21-24 in Kochi. The AFI had mandated athletes to compete in either the Indian Open Athletics Meet or the Indian Grand Prix (IGP) meets to meet minimum eligibility criteria. Of eight Indian Open meets, the athletes still have three more meets – Nadiad (Gujarat) on April 5, Ranchi (April 10), and Chennai (April 15) – ahead of the Fed Cup, a qualification meet for the Asian Championship in May. AFI spokesperson and former president Adille Sumariwalla explains to The Bridge on the change, the expectation from its athletes, and how Neeraj Chopra Classic is a much-deserved tribute to the living legend’s achievements. Excerpts: What is the new eligibility criteria for Fed Cup all about? That information was there on the website for the last 3 months. The athletes have to take part in …

AFI announces newly elected body as Adille Sumariwalla’s tenure ends

AFI announces newly elected body as Adille Sumariwalla’s tenure ends

Published by Webster

Asian Games gold medalist shot putter Bahadur Singh Sagoo will take over as Adille Sumariwalla’s tenure ends at the Athletics Federation of India. Sagoo will serve a four-year term as he was elected unopposed after incumbent senior vice president Anju Bobby George opted out of the race for the position. His election was formalized at the two-day Annual General Meeting of the AFI. There were no elections for the remaining posts, a repeat of what happened during the last AGM in 2020. Delhi unit’s top official Sandeep Mehta was elected unopposed as the AFI secretary. He was the senior joint secretary in the outgoing executive council. Stanely Jones was made the treasurer. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, who won 800m and 1500m gold in the 1998 Asian Games, will be the joint secretary and Stanely Jones of Telangana will be elected the treasurer. Sudha Singh, who won 3000m steeplechase gold in the 2010 Asian Games, former 100m national record holder Rachita Mistry, Harjinder Singh, and Priyanka Bhanot – daughter of AFI Planning Commission Chairman Lalit Bhanot – will …

‘We can win more medals in Paris Olympics than in Tokyo’: Adille Sumariwalla

Published by Webster

The Athletic Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla is confident of a better show by the Indian athletes at the Paris Olympics than what they achieved in Tokyo three years back. “We can no doubt perform better in the Paris Olympics than in Tokyo. We can win more medals in Paris,” said Sumariwalla during an interaction with the media on the sidelines of the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar. India won seven medals in the Tokyo Olympics, including a gold in athletics. “I had never in the past given any prediction of any event in which we could win a medal. But, if our athletes performed their best (betters their personal best) in many events, we can win medals or finish in the top four,” he said, mentioning men’s 4x400m relay, men’s long jump and men’s 3000m steeplechase, among others. Neeraj Chopra was India’s only gold medallist from Tokyo, the first since Abhinav Bindra, who won gold in shooting in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Neeraj is India’s first track and field Olympic gold medallist. Sumariwalla …

‘Doping at lower level is beyond our control’: AFI President Adille Sumariwalla

Published by Webster

Delhi: Doping is not a new phenomenon in Indian sports, and athletics is one of the leading sectors when it comes to athletes being caught. Globally, athletics is the sport with the highest number of athletes caught doping. As per a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Athletics was number one in 2020 with 107 cases at the global level. Elite Indian athletes like quarter-miler Anjali Devi, Tokyo Olympian racewalker Bhawna Jat, sprinter Dutee Chand, and many others were caught doping in the past year. Doping at the grassroots beyond control “Doping is a very serious menace for Indian athletics and there are mainly two reasons for it. The main reason is that it starts at the lowest level,” Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla told The Bridge on the sidelines of the first Relay Open Carnival last week. “At the district level and U-14 level, coaches are encouraging it for quick results. It is beyond the control of the Athletics Federation of India and it all depends on the state federations …