India – Qatar compete for AAA top seat

Prince Gunasekara

India’s Suresh Kalmadi, Asian Athletics Association’s head for 13 long years, will be strongly contested by Qatar’s Dahlan Al Hamad at today’s Asian Athletics Association general election at Pune, India.

The AAA general election is usually held two days before the Asian Athletics Championships, allowing members from 45 Asian countries to elect members for the executive committee. A strong contest is expected for the AAA Chairman’s position which is contested by Dahlan and Kalmadi today.

Kalmadi is fighting for his lost prestige after being jailed after being accused of frauds during his presidency of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games organizing committee. Some expect that his lost popularity will be a problem when facing the Qatari candidate at today’s election. However Kalmadi says that he is confident of retaining his position.

Dahlan al Hamad is the vice president of the International Olympic Committee as well as a senior vice president of the AAA. He is also the president of the Qatar Athletics Association. Meanwhile Athletic Association of Sri Lanka general secretary Prema Pinnawale will contest for the executive committee while Susanthika Jayasinghe will compete for the Womens committee. G L S Perera will also be looking for a slot in the cross country and marathon committee.