NEW DELHI: India’s western city of Pune has been named as the new venue for the Asian Athletics Championships in July, a top official said yesterday.
“The championships will now be held in Pune and the dates will remain the same (July 3 to 7),” Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla said yesterday.
The southern city of Chennai had been due to host the event, but refused in February because of the participation of Sri Lanka in the championships, which it accuses of war crimes.
The state of Tamil Nadu, of which Chennai is the capital, has a large Tamil population.
Many politicians in Tamil Nadu have been critical of the Sri Lankan government over its military campaign that defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.
Rights groups say up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces in the last months of a no-holds-barred offensive that ended Sri Lanka’s decades-long fight against Tamil separatists.
Sri Lanka denies causing civilian deaths.
India last hosted the Asian Athletics Championships in 1989.
Meanwhile, Athletics Kenya (AK) yesterday announced a 69-strong provisional team to start early training in June for the World Athletics Championships in Moscow in August. The team includes three reigning champions from the 2011 Daegu worlds: David Rudisha (800m), Asbel Kiprop (1500m) and two-time 3000m steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi. Others are silver medallists Silas Kiplagat (1500m) and Brimin Kipruto (3000m steeplechase). The world championships will be held in Moscow from August 10-18.
