‘AAG is ideal for all to test waters’

After a lot of uncertainty, the Afro-Asian Games (AAG) is finally getting underway at Hyderabad from October 24 to November 1. And the men b...

After a lot of uncertainty, the Afro-Asian Games (AAG) is finally getting underway at Hyderabad from October 24 to November 1. And the men behind the scene who will make it happen are optimistic that the event will be a grand success. No wonder then that the secretary general for the event, Ali Moradi, waves a ‘confident’ wand over all issues of concern ranging from doping to facilities to participation of member countries.

Moradi, who is also the secretary general for the Asian Weightlifting Federation, was here during a stopover from Hyderabad to Thailand. The Iranian heavyweight had just finished his last round of supervision of the Games’ preparations and was flying to Thailand to convince them of reconsidering their decision on non-participation in the event.

Moradi, incidentally, was a participant at the 1982 Asian Games which was also his last visit to the country.

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How does he see the Games in the light of news still filtering in about countries and top players preferring to give it a skip to concentrate harder on bigger events like the Athens Olympics next year?

“In fact, I have been stressing this to all: If you have to practice for the Olympics or events like that, I think the AAG is the perfect opportunity for the African and Asian countries to test the waters and see where they stand.”

Will the Games be free of doping, a nightmare for any organising nation or committee? “I think the facilties for dope testing are the best we have. The seriousness of the organising committee can be judged from the fact that the chairman of the Olympic Council Authority — Medical Commission, a Japanese professor ((Dr Yoshio Kuroda) is on the board.

‘‘Also we are having the Athlete Passport which is the best available option to control doping,’’ he stressed. The Athlete Passport is a program launched last year and is being tested for optimum use before putting into practice by 2004.

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Unlike a normal travel document it combines paperwork where doping officials can enter information after testing, with an internet-based clearing house through which athletes can access information on all doping information as well as personal data regarding their own testing history.

Moradi also was satisfied with the Games village and other facilities.

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