New Delhi, June 2: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is planning a jumbo 900-member contingent from the provisional list of 2370 for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia from August 18-September 2.
IOA president Narinder Batra and secretary general Rajeev Mehta are confident that a final list of 620 plus athletes and approximately 273 officials across disciplines will be allowed for the quadrennial extravaganza.
“As per provisional list, there are 1938 athletes, 399 officials (including support staff)– eight from IOA, seven from sports ministry and 18 from Sports Authority of India (SAI) in the list of 2370. We have time till June 30 to prune the list,” Batra told reporters Saturday.
Mehta on his part informed that it will be pruned to 900 after consultation with the ministry. “We are expecting that the final list will be of 620 plus athletes and 273 officials,” Mehta said at the sidelines of programme.
For the Incheon Games in 2014, India had sent 541 athletes and won 57 medals across 28 disciplines. While the ministry can veto such a big contingent, the IOA on its part has set selection criteria for the Games.
EOI Initiative
New Delhi: The IOA Saturday announced its grand plans to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Mumbai along with 2030 Asian Games and the 2032 Olympic Games in New Delhi. The IOA also submitted an EOI for conducting the IOC Congress 2021 or onwards. “We have made some purposeful decisions in this meeting. From EOI for hosting global events to announcing new committees and commissions, it’s all formally plotted in our future roadmap,” Batra said.