Senior National Athletics Championships to be hosted in two Patiala venues from 25-29 June despite COVID-19 threat

New Delhi: The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Friday said two venues in Patiala will host the 60th Senior National Athletics Championships from 25-29 June, which will also serve as the last qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics. During a meeting held for finalising the venue of the competition amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was also decided to organise the competition at two different places. AFI President Adille J Sumariwalla said, “We are planning this competition very carefully due to the pandemic situation. To avoid large gatherings at one place, we have decided to host the competition at two different locations in Patiala. “Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports will be the venue for 24 events while other 19 events will be held at Punjabi University grounds. All the mandatory Standard Operating Procedures will be strictly followed and we are not going to provide accommodation to the teams.” The federation is also inviting athletes from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Kazakhstan for the competition. Athletes who meet AFI qualification standards for this competition will only be allowed to participate. The entries are to be submitted online on AFI website by the affiliated states/union territories from 10-18 June.