Pray, what exactly is Olympic qualification?

By K.P. Mohan

NEW DELHI, MAY 16. The sponsor of equestrian competitor Imtiaz Anees, is agitated that we carried in these columns on April 14 the news to the effect that the rider had ``failed to qualify'' for the Sydney Olympics.

Either Anees has qualified or he has not qualified for the individual three-day event at the Games to be held in September. There have been no twists and turns in recent days or weeks to change a `qualified' competitor into a non-qualifier. We will go through the entire gamut of qualification to find out whether Anees, at any stage from January last year through to this date, had ``qualified'' for the Games.

We will also find out whether any rule change by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) ``this year'' had denied Anees a place in the Olympics.

To put things in the right perspective, at least for the satisfaction of Mr. Khusroo Dhunjibhoy, managing director, Five Star Shipping Company, Anees's sponsor, when the news item appeared in these columns on January 9 that Imtiaz Anees had ``qualified'' for the Olympics, one tended to take it with a pinch of salt straightaway. For no particular reason, but in the firm belief that qualification would be a tough affair and just by the result achieved in a competition in Adelaide it should be a near-impossibility.

So, we wrote to the FEI seeking clarifications. Came the reply on January 31. Wrote Ms. Laura Bischoff, of the Eventing and Olympic departments in the FEI:

``...Please be informed that according to the FEI Olympic regulations, confirmation of Eventing individual qualification can only be made after 1 March, 2000. However please find attached the current individual ranking list as well as the Olympic qualification procedure...''

We had reached somewhere in unravelling the mystery of Olympic qualification. The ranking list at that point of time was with us (Anees was joint 207th). So, too, the Olympic qualification procedure. by which he was not making it, not by a long shot. We were ready to rebut the claim that Anees had ``qualified''.

But we decided to wait instead. Wait till March 1. In the fond hope that Anees might, through some method, which we were not yet familiar with, come through yet to actually qualify for the Olympics.

Truth is, however, important

One was privileged to meet him at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998, was proud as any other Indian around (just two more Indian journalists were there at the faraway venue) when the tricolour went up, for the first time in the Games, as Anees and company won the bronze in the three-day team event. Anees himself had come through a nerve-wracking showjumping round, followed by Amolakjit Singh, to ensure the medal for India after the team was declared a non-starter since it did not have the minimum three riders and horses in the fray on the final day. That was overcome through some smart arguments by the EFI officials. What mattered was a medal and we were all justifiably proud, starved as India was, till then, of a medal.

Thus, no one was in the mood to contradict Anees or for that matter our own report. Yet, when the time came, when all clarifications had been received, the truth had to be written.

When someone states that a particular competitor has qualified for the Olympics, there cannot be too many interpretations on that simple statement. At least not in sports circles. Different disciplines have different qualifying procedures. Some international federations lay down simply entry standards, like in athletics and swimming. There, too, there can be different routes in attaining those entry standards. In athletics, any recognised meet is okay, while in swimming it has to be through a pre-determined set of meets.

In shooting, at first a shooter has to attain the minimum qualifying score (MQS) and then only hope to attain qualification to the Olympics. There must be more than a dozen shooters in India at the moment (one has lost count) who have attained the MQS, but there is only one shooter , Anwar Sultan in trap, who has earned India a quota place. Even in this case, the final choice is not known. That will depend on the selection since a federation need not necessarily enter the same competitor who won the Olympic qualification in a particular event.

In boxing and weightlifting there is a qualification procedure, through pre-determined competitions or individual ranking method (in weightlifting) for a country/competitor to earn Olympic berths. In badminton, players ranked 65 and below are also theoretically eligible. In practice, the list has stopped around the 30s and 40s.

All these are being mentioned to clear the confusion being created now in claiming that Anees had actually ``qualified''for the Olympics but was done in by a change of rules at the FEI end.

Anees, by competing in Adelaide in November, 1999, and finishing 13th without a penalty in cross-country, had met the basic criteria, that of getting into the FEI Olympic ranking list and becoming eligible. But he had not ``qualified'' for the Olympics. By no stretch of imagination could anyone have claimed that he had qualified. By the time the FEI announced its final ranking list for Olympic qualification purposes (March 1, 2000), there were 525 other competitors who were on that list, all theoretically eligible, but fighting for just 36 places that were available in the three-day event at Sydney.

Anees's trainer, Barry Roycroft of Australia, is closest to the correct position when he states, ``...hence met the qualifying standard required for the Olympic Games.''

To stretch that and to claim Anees's performance in Adelaide, had ``qualified'' him to ``compete'' in the Olympic Games is beyond anyone's comprehension.

``At no stage has he mentioned in his press releases that he has been selected to ride or for that matter he has a confirmed seat in the Olympics''. So goes Mr. Dhunjibhoy's argument in the item appearing on May 16.

At no point in our April 14 report did we state that Anees had made such a claim. For one thing, selection will come later. First by the Equestrian Federation of India (FEI) (had Anees earned a qualification), then an approval by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and finally a clearance from the Union Government. There was no way any one could have `confirmed a seat' in the Olympics, without going through this procedure. Not even those who have made the grade.

For example in athletics, there are around a dozen athletes who have attained the qualifying marks laid down by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF). But, eventually, the numbers will be decided by the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) in consultation with the IOA.

Thus, for us to even think about writing that Anees had been selected for the Games or that he had a confirmed seat at the Olympics would have been unimaginable.

Now, to the rules. This is as per the November 25, 1999, updated list, sent by the FEI on January 31:

Individual three-day event competition: `` 36 individual competitors are qualified to take part in the individual competition, each competitor with one horse, and a maximum of three riders per nation.

``All three competitors will be allowed to ride in both the individual and team competition if they ride a different horse in each competition.

``The NFs of competitors from the FEI approved world ranking for three-day event riders (of 3 and 4 star events) counting from 1 January, 1999 to the deadline for confirmation of qualification to NOCs, of 1 March, 2000, will be qualified to enter competitors as follows:...''

The most important portion, and the most relevant one for a competitor, federation or journalist, is ``...will be qualified to enter competitors as follows:..'' What follows is a the format by which 36 competitors are determined, six regional toppers in the FEI ranking list plus 30 others according to their placings on the ranking chart, with a maximum of three per nation.

`As follows' is the clincher. That means the federations were becoming eligible to enter competitors according to a laid down criteria based on the world ranking chart. Further, the qualification was based on a format and a set of qualifying groups which were being given. The FEI, at no stage, had agreed that all competitors on its world ranking list had ``qualified'' for the Olympics. That would have been sheer chaos. Yes, they are eligible to earn qualification places for their federations.

We were aware of a list of qualified NFs for the Olympics, released by the FEI on March 3. There was no mention of India in that list. Still, we waited for the final confirmation of qualified entries (federations) and a complete ranking list as on March 1. Yet, we made a mistake in that April 14 report. That was in stating that Anees had added two more points to his tally but remained at 207th place. He had not added any more points to his earlier tally of 34 in the Olympic ranking list.

It is no one's fault that India is clubbed with Australia and New Zealand, among 14 other teams, in group `G' of the Olympic qualification pools. We all know that the Aussies and the Kiwis are strong in the sport, especially three-day event. But like Mr. Dhunjibhoy, we are also proud that Anees is 18th among the stand- bys for the Games and he is the third-ranked Asian (not second) behind Japanese Masami Okamoto (joint 116) and Masaru Fuse (joint 141). Just as we are proud that Nikhil Kaetkar and Aparna Popat are at present fourth and fifth respectively among the reserves for Olympic badminton.

Everyone in our profession look forward to more and more sponsors coming forward to support our sportspersons like Imtiaz Anees. To that extent, what Five Star Shipping and Mr. Dhunjibhoy have been doing for the equestrian sport, and will continue to do, cannot but be commended. Yet, it is for the national federations, competitors and perhaps sponsors to understand what an Olympic qualification means. In different sport, `qualification criteria' might mean different things, but in all sport when one states that a competitor has ``qualified'' for the Olympics, there is only one way we can understand that. Still, it will, of course, depend on the final selection. We are well aware of that, too.

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