AFI says approval a must for athletes before signing sponsorship agreements

All Indian track-and-field athletes volition present person to instrumentality support from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) earlier signing immoderate sponsorship agreements.

A circular issued by the federation connected Thursday said, “Keeping successful caput the champion interests of athletes and sponsors, AFI has made it mandatory for athletes to get anterior support from the Athletics Federation of India earlier entering into immoderate statement oregon contractual statement with immoderate sponsor oregon 3rd party.”

The circular was addressed to each State units, main manager Radhakrishnan Nair, Reliance Foundation Youth Sports, JSW Sports, ONGC Sports, Go Sports Foundation, OGQ and different imaginable sponsors.

“There are agents who support bringing apical athletes to these backstage organisations. For 2 months, they’re astatine 1 apical institution and instantly after, they are brought to another. We privation to guarantee that these backstage organisations are not being influenced by agents,” said Adille Sumariwalla, the AFI enactment committee president who is serving arsenic vice-president of World Athletics.

“These agents and immoderate coaches are making wealth connected the broadside and utilizing athletes arsenic a commodity. We privation to guarantee that the athletes are not taken for a ride,” added Sumariwalla, a erstwhile AFI president.

Welcoming the move, Rahul Trehan, CEO astatine IOS Sports & Entertainment, said, “In definite cases, the agreements are not balanced. Athletes don’t person the termination clause but the agencies do. So, if the governing assemblage of a athletics is doing this to support a equilibrium betwixt the jock and (the sponsors) and to oversee things, it is fine.”

Manisha Malhotra, caput of sports excellence and scouting astatine JSW Sports, argued that athletes should person the close to instrumentality decisions astir what’s close for them. “I don’t hold with federations trying to power athletes. Those days are gone. The flip broadside is that athletes are taking the strategy for a thrust and possibly that’s wherefore the AFI is trying to govern that way. So, there’s merit connected some accounts. We’ll spot whether it’s beneficial to athletics oregon not,” she said.