Asian Games Federation - Establishment

Establishment

In March 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, who later became the first prime minister of India, held the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi—a meeting with a prospect to bring the possibility of Asian Games under the attention of participating countries. Before the conference, Guru Dutt Sondhi, who was the member of the International Olympic Committee for India, encouraged Yadavindra Singh, Maharaja of Patiala and the then-president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), to communicate with meeting attendees to establish the Asian Games Federation. The proposal was not acknowledged by some representatives and the rest, who approved, refused to make any commitment.

In July 1947, the IOA, which initially was advocating the organisation of Games, retracted its patronage for unknown reasons. Sondhi found an alternative; rather than organising a multi-sport event, for which he needed an approval of the IOA, he opted for a single event championship titled the Asian Athletic Championships—a track and field event. Sondhi, who was also the president of the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) (now Athletics Federation of India), received the consent of federation in February 1948. Yadavindra, on the request of Sondhi, became the president of the organising committee for the Championship, and Sondhi took the position of chairman. In early July, formal invitations were sent to various Asian countries, backed by the letter from the AAFI. But the response was not positive as there was a scheduling conflict with the 1948 Summer Olympics, which were scheduled from 29 July.