Sports ministry mulls new sports body after World University Games fiasco

The Sports Ministry is actively considering a complete restructuring of university sports governance in India following glaring administrative lapses by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) at the ongoing World University Games in Germany.

The crisis came to light after six out of the 12 Indian badminton players, including medal prospects, were denied participation in the mixed team event due to the officials’ failure to submit a complete list of names during the managers' meeting held on July 16. Despite the team securing a historic bronze medal - India’s first-ever in badminton at the Games, the controversy overshadowed the achievement.

The shuttlers were not alone as track and field athletes also suffered.

Long-distance runner Seema and 400m sprinter Devyaniba Zala were both denied a chance to compete after their names disappeared from the final start lists.

Seema, a Federation Cup silver medalist, claimed, “Our officials messed up everything and mistakenly excluded our names from the 10,000m race.”

Meanwhile, Devyaniba posted online that her name had initially appeared but was later removed due to last-minute errors by officials.

“Clearly, they are unable to manage the affairs properly. Probably, the solution is a separate federation to handle administration,” a senior ministry official said. “A revamp is needed because university sport is our best bet to find high-potential athletes.”

While AIU has acknowledged the matter and initiated an internal probe, the damage is already done. The affected athletes expressed frustration and disbelief over such a basic administrative failure.

Shuttler Alisha Khan revealed to The Bridge that officials told her the entry form was too complicated to fill.

“We were later told that KIIT University submitted only six names, but even then, managers had a chance to fix it. They simply didn’t,” she said.

The Ministry has taken serious note of the situation, and officials indicated that accountability will be enforced.

“It is obviously sad that something like this happened and the country was embarrassed. This will be thoroughly looked into,” another ministry source confirmed to PTI.

The AIU, as the current nodal agency for university-level sports, now faces potential sidelining as the government explores a more competent and athlete-centric administrative framework.