Triathlon cancelled due to feud

BANGALORE, June 9: Faction feud in the Indian Triathlon Federation (ITF) led to the cancellation of the event in the National Games today.T...

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BANGALORE, June 9: Faction feud in the Indian Triathlon Federation (ITF) led to the cancellation of the event in the National Games today.

The event, originally scheduled for Saturday, had been stalled as N. Ramachandran, the ITF president, demanded that the event be conducted on the basis of the rules of the International Triathlon Union. According to the rules, the swimmer should complete the other two events, cycling and running. The National Games Organising Committee announced late last evening that the event would be gone through at 6 a.m. today.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) swimming pool area at the South Centre was agog with activity in the early hours today as over 200 triathletes and officials had assembled at the venue, while the rival groups led by Ramachandran, who is also vice-president of the Asian Triathlon Confederation, and Rajesh Gupta, secretary of the other group, were holding dialogue with the organisers about the conduct of the event.

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Even after three sittings, there was no consensus and it was announced that the event would commence on the relay system only.

Assistant Commissioner of Police B.A. Poonacha said the event would be allowed only if there was amicable settlement between the rival groups to avoid any untoward incident. While Ramachandran was willing to cooperate if the event was staged on the basis of international rules, Gupta insisted it should be conducted on the Pune pattern of relay system.y