Mumbai: With Hima Das making waves on the international track, so is the former international athlete Adil Sumariwalla, who will be among the 11 gunning for one of the four posts of the Vice Presidents at the world governing body of the sport International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), at the 52nd Congress to be held in Doha in the month of September this year.
Talking to Free Press Journal, Sumariwalla, who is also the president of Athletic Federation of India, said that it would be for the first time an Indian holds this post (VP).
“Yes, I would be the first Indian to be elected in both these posts if everything goes well, but I am sure there would be involvement of Indians at this highest level,” said Sumariwalla.
Earlier, it was only Suresh Kalmadi who was the president of Asian Athletic Federation, who was nominated as the member of IAAF, and not elected, but so far nobody has been elected. Sumariwalla, an incumbent member of the council of International Athletic Federation, is one of the 11 candidates for the four Vice-president posts.
There will be many changes in the way things are moving at the IAAF, like there will be an equal number of men and women in the office, and for the first time, a woman candidate will make it to the VP post, as one seat has been reserved for the category, according to Sumariwalla.
The four vice-presidents will sit on the powerful IAAF Executive Board, along with the president and three professional employees. There must be at least one female member out of the four elected vice-presidents.
