Archery Association of India to Hold Elections on January 18

The much awaited Archery Association of India (AAI) elections will be held on January 18 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here. Delhi High Court has appointed PK Tripathi as Election Officer for the elections.

As per the order passed in October by the Delhi High Court, elections will be held for the posts of Chairman, Senior Vice President, Vice President (eight posts), General Secretary, Joint Secretary (seven posts) and Treasurer. The order was amended in November.

According to the order a total of 31 states are part of the Union voter list but the units representing Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu Kashmir and Nagaland are not in the list.

The biggest blow to Indian archery was in August when World Archery suspended the National Federation due to the factionalism between two groups led by VK Malhotra and BVP Rao. One of these groups held elections in Delhi ehile the other faction conducted election in Chandigarh, which is a clear violation of the guidelines of the international body.

The suspension cast a shadow over Indian archers’ participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the country’s flag. Indian archers had won a gold, two silver and four bronze at the Bangkok Asian Championships, but they did so as neutral athletes under World Archery.

It also to be noted that the suspension of the AAI has left the archers in lurch as the committee appointed by the court to hold open trials for the Tokyo Olympics has announced that all those archers who are eligible to appear for January 4 trial, will have to make their own arrangements for accommodation and food while participating in the trial. National archers have said that earlier the open trial which organized by the Federation and Sports Authority of India had all the necessary arrangements available for the archers.