Delhi leg of Indian Grand Prix athletics postponed

The third and final leg of the Indian Grand Prix, scheduled to be held on April 13, has been postponed due to clash of dates with the Annual General Body Meeting of the Athletics Federation of India.

The AGM of the AFI, which will be held on April 13 and 14, will elect the president, secretary and treasurer of the federation, besides taking decisions on some other major issues.

The venues of the first and second legs of the Indian GP have also been shifted from Panchkula and Ludhiana to Patiala respectively though the dates -- March 31 and April 6 – have been kept unchanged.

Both the events will now be held at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports in Patiala.

Delhi was also to host the 17th Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships from April 23 to 26. But the championships will now be held at NIS Patiala on the same dates.

The elections to the posts of president, secretary and treasurer of the AFI are being held after the Sports Ministry refused to recognise the incumbents chosen in the polls in March last year.

Early this year, on the Ministry's threat to derecognize it, the AFI amended a clause in its constitution which required that a person must be an existing member of the Executive Committee for seeking election to the post of President/Secretary.

However, AFI sources said the elections to the posts of president and secretary would be a mere formality as Addille Sumariwala and C K Valson are set to again get elected unopposed.