Pune, July 1 (IANS) Suresh Kalmadi's 13-year run as the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) president ended Monday after he lost his re-election bid 18-20 to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad in a closely fought battle on the first day of the continental body's two-day Congress.
It was a repeat of the 2000 elections, when Kalmadi, a former president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), won the AAA elections for first time beating Indonesian Bob Hassan 19-15 on his home turf in Jakarta.
This time, Kalamdi, who is out on bail after having spent nine months in Delhi's Tihar jail on charges of corruption the run-up to the Commonwealth Games, faced the toughest competition from Al Hamad, a senior AAA vice president and president of the Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF).
The 20th AAA Congress, before the July 3-7 Asian Athletics Championships, was also attended by International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) President Lamine Diack.
The Congress comprises a Council and not more than two delegates from each AAA member country. Each member country has only one vote in the elections.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is represented by its president, Adille Sumariwala, and Secretary C.K. Valson.
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