Archers, coaches and officials can now seek affiliation with the Archery Association of India (AAI) for participating in national and international competitions.
AAI president and Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda on Friday launched the online affiliation portal on the virtual platform in the presence of presidents, secretaries and members of state associations, executive panel , archers, coaches and technical officials.
Creating such a portal was one of the condition of World Archery to lift the suspension imposed on the AAI. An amendment to this effect was made in the constitution of the national archery outfit by the general council at its meeting on February 22 last year.
Munda, a former Jharkhand chief minister, said that a new chapter has been added to the history of the AAI with the launch of the portal which is a result of the untiring efforts of the entire team.
“Through this portal, archers, coaches and officials who wish to participate in championships, games, national and international tournaments, which are recognised or controlled by World Archery or AAI or its member state archery associations, would be able to seek affiliation with the AAI,” Munda said.
The applicant can download digital card which is required to be carried while attending national competitions and other archery-related events.
Describing the importance of online affiliation, AAI secretary general Pramod Chandurkar said that the portal will be very useful in controlling the age fraud or over-age participation. “Compliance of ministry of youth affairs and sports’ guidelines to issue identity cards to each athlete will also be covered under the portal. The association would be able to conduct any domestic events with the help of collected data. A paperless entry of participants during domestic events is also one of the advantages,” he added.
Youth World champion, Komalika Bari (Jharkhand), who is currently getting intense training at the Olympics preparatory camp at Army Sports Institute in Pune, got the distinction of having the first affiliation with AAI as an archer.
