The Sports Ministry is firm on sticking to the selection criteria for the Asian Games and not giving in to external pressure in clearing names that do not make the cut.
The government recently cleared a 492-member list for the upcoming edition in Aichi-Nagoya, leaving out the football and handball teams and excluding several former medallists, leading to protests.
“There is a lot of pressure from all quarters to include many sportspersons. Many parents call up to say their child deserved a chance but was not selected. But our contention is, if someone merits selection on the basis of the government criteria, he/she will not be ignored but we cannot simply clear names,” ministry sources said on Monday.
“For example, if the Asian timing is 10 seconds to be even a contender in in 100m, how can we send someone clocking 15s?” they added. The ministry’s criteria mandate a top-six in individual and top-eight placing in team sports in the previous edition with the government having the final say.
There has been a protest over the pruned tennis list, which has seven players including two women and has left out the likes of top-ranked Sahaja Yamalapalli, with former star Rohan Bopanna raising questions. Earlier, paddler Manika Batra had also slammed her exclusion by the federation while rider Anush Agarwalla, individual and team medallist in 2023, went to court but was not granted relief.
Meanwhile, a nationwide programme will be organised on August 27 as part of the National Sports Day, celebrated on August 29 to mark the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand.
The programme will have leading athletes including Manika, Deepa Karmakar, Saina Nehwal, Gagan Narang and P.R. Sreejesh among others sharing their journey, challenges and sporting experiences with youngsters across more than 1500 locations including IITs, IIMs and other leading educational institutions.
Published – August 24, 2026 07:37 pm IST
