The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla said that he was strongly against athletes running for other countries without the necessary protocols being followed and called it "human trafficking". India lost out on at least eight gold medals in the Jakarta Asiad to Bahrain, whose athletes were largely from the African nations.
"If athletes are bought, used and thrown out, then it is completely wrong," Sumariwalla, also a council member of the world athletics body IAAF, said here on Wednesday on the eve of the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai's annual awards.
"They are not given citizenship. They are given only residency, given fake passports, on the basis of which they are participating. Once they finish, they are thrown out. That's human trafficking. I am opposed to human trafficking and have done it tooth and nail in IAAF (meetings)."
The former 11-time national sprint champion said the future looked bleak for those countries in trying to adopt the same methods and winning medals, many of them gold.
\"I have got that waiting period increased to three years. They need to be given full citizenship and in places like Qatar, the (country's) constitution does not allow that. Either they have to change the constitution or figure out how to include them,\" he added.
That apart, Sumariwalla has advised his athletes to move on from Asian Games. "What I tell my athletes is that if we are to compete at the world level, we should fight the Africans at all levels. They should move on from Asian Games."
India's best former in his hey days, Sumariwalla, 60, said that athletes like Hima Das "should be preserved".
"To be doing 50.5s range (400m) and an Olympic medal is a below 50s, he graph is rising so fast that it will flatten out. We have to preserve Hima. If not a medal in 2020 Olympics, then the next one in 2024," he said.
Sumariwalla was confident of independent India winning their first Olympic medal in 2020. "Am confident we will open our account in Tokyo and many more in 2024," he said. "And, the best chances are in the two relays (men's and women's)."
Not giving up on Lakshmanan disqualification
The AFI is not giving up on 10,000m runner Govindan Lakshmanan's disqualification at the Jakarta Asian Games in August.
Lakshmanan had finished the race third but was later disqualified after his left foot landed outside and on the left side of the innermost lane in a bend of the track.
"We are taking it up with the Ethics Commission. Don't know how long it will take but we are taking it up," Sumariwalla said.
Sumariwalla drew parallel to a similar incident that happened in 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Korea, with Kenya-born Ruth Jebet. Running for Bahrain, Jebet was originally disqualified in 3,000m steeplechase for stepping on the infield but later reinstated after it was deliberated that she had neither hindered any other runner nor influence the end result.
Sumariwalla said: "If what they did in 2014 was fraud, I said that then we should report. Ruth stepped out, ran three strides outside (track). This guy (Lakshmanan) got spiked, his leg was bleeding and lost balance and went out. This was not qualification. We are taking it up. That said, it was a very badly organised event and the technical needs to be upgraded."
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 "Bahrain’s women’s 4x100m relay team celebrates their win in Asian Games in Jakarta recently; (inset) Adille Sumariwala")
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