Asian Games: Sumariwalla, OCA official upset at Africans dominating athletics

Incheon Adille Sumariwalla Indias former 100m world record holder and currently the President of the Athletics Federation of India AFI and the Chef de Mission of the Indian contingent is worried that the Asian Games is fast resembling the African meet in at least athleticsAdille SumariwallaSumariwalla always an outspoken person even as an athlete in the mid1980s said It is certainly not very pleasing to see so many African athletes winning middle and long distance events Not just that we have seen the trend spreading to sprints tooHe was referring to the increasing number of Africaborn athletes winning events in athletics this time It is not fair on Asian athletes Maybe the competition is becoming stronger but that is not because we are getting Kenyan Ethiopian Sudanese Nigeria and other athletes suddenly becoming AsianMeanwhile Olympic Council of Asia honorary life vicepresident Wei Jizhong voiced similar views During a press conference here Wei said there were dangers of buying foreign athletes to gain instant success in sportWe have work in order to avoid any country or region buying athletes instead of training their athletes This will lower the sports standards in that country he saidBut the OCA director general Husain AlMusallam from Kuwait said he was not worried No we are not worried he said These athletes will raise the standard They have met all the eligibility requirements and they are eligible to competeThey Asian athletes will work harder to achieve a higher standard He also said that many applications from Africanborn athletes hoping to switch allegiance were being turned down by various Gulf StatesOn the first day of athletics competition on Saturday three Africanborn athletes won gold medals on the track Alia Saeed Mohammed originally from Ethiopia who switched to the United Arab Emirates in 2010 won the 10000m beating Ding Changqin of China and Ayumi Hagiwara of JapanThen Moroccanborn Qatari Mohamed Al Garni claiming the mens 5000m title after fending off challenges from two Bahraini rivals who also have their origins in Africa Bahrain had a foreign import winning a gold in womens 3000m Steeplechase as Kenyanborn Ruth Jebet won the eventThen on Sunday Nigerianborn Qatari Femi Ogunode broke the Asian Games and Asian Continental record clocking 993 in the mens 100m The previous record was held by Nigerianborn Qatari Samuel Francis who finished eighth in the same finalOn Monday three more gold medals went to athletes who were formerly from Africa Leading the trio was former Ethiopian Maryam Yusuf Jamal now a Bahraini citizen won the womens 1500m Maryam who was a victim of politics in her country had arrived in Switzerland in 2002 for a few races and stayed back seeking asylum and then she applied for citizenship in four countries mdash France Turkey Canada and BahrainBahrain suggested she change her name and so she became Maryam Yusuf Jamal after being born Zenebach Tola and became a Bahraini She won a bronze for her new country in 2012 OlympicsMoroccoborn Mohammed Al Garni won for Qatar another gold adding the 1500m to the 5000m he won two days earlier Rasheed Abdulqader Ramzi who was second in 1500m was also Morocco born but shifted to Bahrain in 2001And Kamal Abdul Baker Ali born in Sudan who shifted to Qatar won the mens 3000m steeplechase on Monday Many Kenyan and Ethiopian born athletes who are unable to make their national teams for World Championships and Olympic Games have looked at lucrative offers from the Gulf nations to bolster their athletic futureIn one of the most famous cases before the latest ones Kenyanborn Saif Saaeed Shaheen shifted to Qatar He was born and competed as Stephen Cherono who won the gold at the World Junior Championships in 1999 and Commonwealth Games in 2002 for Kenya before switching to Qatar in 2003Shaheen was not only to said to have agreed to change his name but also was said to have received a 1 million to change nationality The athlete has denied allegations of money changing hands