Athletics Federation of India today finalised the calendar of events this year with new places like Mangalore and Sangrur in Punjab getting important meets.
The calendar drawn up on the first day of the two-day AFI Executive Committee meeting here assumes significance as Indian athletes will look to qualify for the World Championships to be held in Beijing from August 22 to 30 as well as for next year's Rio Olympics.
The 2016 Rio Olympics athletics qualification period for 10,000m, marathon, race walk, combined and relay events has begun on January 1 this year while other remaining events start on May 1, though the entry standards will be confirmed by the IAAF on April 15.
Mangalore will host the Federation Cup National Senior Championships from May 1-4 while Chennai will be the venue for the National Inter-State Senior Championships from June 21-24.
The Federation Cup National Senior championships also assumes significance as the performance of the athletes in this meet will be taken into account to pick the Indian participants for the June 3-7 Asian Athletics Championships to be held in Wuhan, China.
The third national event of importance at the senior level -- National Open Championships -- will be held in Kolkata from September 16-19.
The Indian Grand Prix series will have four legs this year with Sangrur in Punjab hosting the second leg on April 19. The first leg will be held at the NIS Patiala on April 15 while both the third and fourth legs will be held in Delhi on April 25 and September 6.
The athletics season will be opened with the National Youth Championships in Pune from April 2-4.
The AFI Executive also decided to take strong action against dope offenders with president Adille Sumariwalla saying records at the Inter-University and National School Games will not be considered if dope tests are not conducted.
"No records created in athletics competitions at the Inter-University and National School Games will be recognised if there are no dope tests conducted by the organisers. AFI won't tolerate doping," he said.
"The menace of over-age athletes taking part in junior competitions needs to be tackled and stopped," Sumariwalla insisted.
