India to send 125-130 athletes to CWG; IOA won't interfere in selection matters: Iyer
New Delhi : India will be represented by 125 to 130 athletes covering eight able-bodied and four para sports at the scaled-down Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July-August, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) CEO Raghuram Iyer said on Friday while asserting that the body would steer clear of any selection disputes.
The 2026 CWG -- scheduled from July 23 to August 2 -- will feature just 10 able-bodied and six para sports to ensure a cost-effective event. Glasgow stepped in as the host city after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out due to escalating costs.
"We will have a total of 125-130 participants, athletes. One third of the number of athletes will be the support staff," IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer told PTI.
"We will compete in eight able-bodied and four para sports," he said on the sidelines of the second edition of the IOA Athletes Forum here.
The sports programme for the Glasgow CWG comprises athletics and para athletics, swimming and para swimming, 3x3 basketball and wheelchair 3x3 basketball, bowls and para bowls, boxing, track cycling and para track cycling, gymnastics, judo, netball, and weightlifting and para powerlifting.
The 2022 CWG in Birmingham had featured 19 able-bodied and eight para sports, and India had sent 208 athletes, winning 61 medals (22 gold, 16 silver, 23 bronze) to finish fourth in the final standings.
The IOA is expected to announce the full contingent after June 23 which is the deadline for sending the list of participants to the Glasgow Games organisers.
"The teams have been selected. All the NSFs have sent us the names. The uniforms and the ceremonial dress (for the contingent members) are being planned. All the logistics are being planned," Iyer said.
"We have had three meetings with various NSFs about their plans, about the pre-Commonwealth Games training programmes." As the host country of the 2030 CWG, India will receive the flag of the Commonwealth Sport during the closing ceremony in Glasgow on August 2. Ahmedabad will host the centenary edition of the CWG in 2030.
