Paris Olympics 2024: AFI says 'no problem' in decision to name 6 athletes in men's 4x400m relay team

New Delhi: World Athletics’ (WA) recently revised criteria in naming relay squads for the Paris Olympics caused a bit of confusion but the national federation on Sunday said there should not be any problem in India including six runners in the men’s 4x400m team.

As the projected number of qualified athletes exceeded the maximum quota of 1810 established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), WA has apparently agreed to bring down the number of overall entries, according to sources.

A country was allowed to name five athletes with full accreditation — with access to Olympic Village, facilities or transportation, etc — and one alternate athlete, who can be later activated as a replacement.

But, under the revised criteria after WA’s notification on July 4, the reserve athlete will no longer be eligible for full accreditation but will be considered as an additional alternate, who can act as a replacement athlete.

This reserve athlete will, however, be able to reside in the Games Village within the existing bed allocation of the National Olympic Committee.

When asked if a country can still name six athletes in its relay team (when it does not have a runner in the individual event), Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adille Sumariwalla said “there’s no problem”.

Sumariwalla is also a vice-president and executive board member of the World Athletics.

Another AFI official said the federation “will follow the rules” and do what is required.

The AFI is making entries of its athletes through the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday.

An IOA source told PTI that it can accommodate additional athletes outside the Games Village.

“The rules will be same for all the countries whether it is five-athlete or six-athlete rule.

“But the IOA can always accommodate any additional athlete outside the Games Village (in case he or she is to be used as replacement later)”, the source said.