Athletics body asks for photos for registration - gets pics of six packs, tattoos and selfies

In July, Athletics Federation of India (AFI), the apex body that manages athletics in India, had made it mandatory to register online for participating in any competition after re-launching their website. Availing a unique identification number and submitting photographs was also mandated in the process. AFI believed this will reduce duplicity and streamline the application process.

The regulatory body had expected passport-sized photographs from the entrants, which is usually what is submitted while registering for a government-backed event. However, what the authorities at AFI received, left the staff astounded.

There were pictures of men exposing their torsos, some displaying ripped tattooed bodies, while there were others who chose to upload pictures like convicts, or selfies from weddings in flashy clothes. As if these weren’t enough, one athlete posted his picture flashing his middle finger, while another morphed the London Eye into the background of his image, as per a report by Indian Express.

Of the 3,000 odd registration applications received, about one-fourth had to be rejected by the AFI because the “pictures used were inappropriate for official purposes”.

Divesh Bhal, Communications Manager, AFI quoted in the report said: “We had to reject hundreds of applications over inappropriate pictures. All we sought was a simple passport picture for our registration and we received all kinds of colourful and weird pictures.”

He added that in some of the pictures received, even the face of the athlete wasn’t visible, making it difficult for them to verify the same. “How do they expect us to verify them? I want to humbly request all the athletes to send us proper passport pictures so that they get the id numbers quickly,” Bhal added.

Notably, most of the rejected applications with odd photographs came from young athletes. However, some seasoned ones were also guilty of the faux pas. For instance, the applications of Sarita Gayakwad, who is an Asiad gold medallist and Shotputter Inderjeet Singh, who is an Asian Games medallist, were provisionally rejected for the same reason.

Luckily for them, there are provisions that allow them to resend their applications with appropriate passport-sized photographs. Commenting on this, national runner Beant Singh said: “We were told that a unique identification number is mandatory for the coming Inter-state meet in Lucknow. But there are many fellow athletes who were told they have to send proper passport pictures.”

Automated emails with the contact number of the officer in charge were sent to all athletes whose forms were temporarily rejected. They would be informed about the exact reason behind the rejection of their applications, once they get in touch with the official.