The Athletics Federation of India today said that it was in the dark about Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna asking Chief Minister Sheila Dixit to "reconsider" her decision to host the Asian Athletics Championships in the capital in July.
AFI President Adille Sumiriwala told PTI that the federation has not got any information from the CMO about Khanna asking Dixit to reconsider the decision for the city to host the prestigious event as reported in a section of the media.
"We have not got any official information from the CMO about any move by the Lt. Governor asking the CM to reconsider the decision," Sumariwala said.
"We have been told by the CMO that the government has agreed to host the event in Delhi and the file has been sent to the Lt. Governor for his approval. After that we have not heard anything," he said.
Sumiriwala said that the AFI will wait for a few days and then take a stock of the situation in a meeting next week.
"We will wait for a few days. We have seven weeks before the event (July 3-7). We will have a meeting next week and then take a stock of the situation," he said.
The prestigious event was earlier scheduled to be held in Chennai before Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa cancelled it because of the anti-Tamil sentiments in the state.
Asked if the event could go out of the country, Sumariwala said, "I can't say anything on this now. We want to host the event and so we are looking at various options."
He also said that Pune and Bangalore, which has good infrastructure, would be considered as venues if Delhi government refuses to host the championships.
"We have been in touch with to two-three state authorities simultaneously. So, if Delhi says no, we will try to hold the championships in Pune or Bangalore.
"We have the infrastructure in these cities. We barely need 15 days for preparation to host the event in any of these places," he said.
