Bhubaneswar: The president of the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) Dahlan Jumaan al-Hamad said here Wednesday that he hoped the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) will render a wise decision on Dutee Chand’s case after the IAAF approached the Lausanne court with more evidence in support of its Hyperandrogenism Policy.
“She (Dutee) is an Indian athlete and we want to support our athletes. But at the same time there are international rules and regulations and we also have to abide by that. I cannot comment on a case which is pending at the CAS as of now,” Al-Hamad said while addressing the media after the AAA Congress here. “We can just hope that it will be a wise decision, a right decision.”
Al-Hamad informed that Turkmenistan has pulled out of the event at the last moment. “We have 45 member countries and out of these 44 have confirmed participation in this Asian Championships in India. It shows that all the countries of Asia want to come and compete in India. It is safe to say that sport is growing in Asia,” asserted the AAA president.
The Qatari, who is also a vice-president in the powerful IAAF Council, said that the Congress also discussed the tricky issue of some top athletes skipping Asian Championships to prepare themselves for the World Championships which falls in the same year in every edition.
“We discussed it and we have requested the IAAF chief Sebastian Coe who was also present at the Congress to look into the issue. He has promised to deal with the issue and we are hoping to find a solution in this regard soon,” informed Al-Hamad
Al-Hamad also said that in line with IAAF’s push for innovative and new ideas to bring more fans to the sport, the AAA would also devise new strategies to increase the popularity of the sport in the continent.
Goel takes up Chand case
New Delhi: Union sports minister Vijay Goel threw his weight behind beleaguered athlete Dutee Chand, and said that the ministry stands with the sprinter and will strongly pursue her case. Dutee will return to CAS in Lausanne later this month to continue her fight against hyperandrogenism regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). “I have read reports in the papers today (Wednesday) and as far as the athlete Dutee Chand is concerned, I am very clear that we are standing with our athlete, and will pursue it (case) strongly,” Goel told reporters Wednesday.
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