News : Sports Ministry Asks IOA To Relax Selection Criteria

The selection of Indian athletes for the Asian Games had another twist as the Sports Ministry rolled out a new selection criterion to help athletes or teams who fell short of meeting the old guidelines. This new policy states that athletes or teams may be considered for selection if they have delivered consistent performances over the last six months. The earlier policy, issued on 10.03.2015, had specified that only teams ranked in the top eight in specific tournaments would be eligible for selection. For individuals, they had laid down a top-six marker. This rule has now been relaxed. The IOA, in consultation with the concerned National Sports Federations may reassess the decisions taken by them for sending entries of teams for the Asian Games, 2018, and send their recommendations, if any in respect of disciplines which are not eligible for participation... but can be considered for participation in light of the fact that individual athlete or a team performing consistently well during the last six months, but could not qualify due to lack of enough exposure or participation in ranking events and hence has a strong possibility of either winning a medal or finishing in the top four.