Muristek
Vinayak Padmadeo
New Delhi, March 16
The contrast between the felicitation ceremonies for the handball team that created history by winning gold at the junior women's Asian Championship and the boxing team that won 39 medals at the ASBC Asian Youth amp; Junior Championships couldn't have been starker.
A high official from the IOA is involved and there was a big attempt to start factionalism in the Handball Federation of India. There was an attempt to stop the team from participating. The Sports Ministry and SAI officials are equally guilty Anandeshwar Panday, hfi executive director
The ceremonies were held here today. The boxers were hosted at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium's VIP lounge in the presence of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) director general, Sandip Pradhan, and Boxing Federation of India (BFI) chief Ajay Singh.
The handball team, which qualified for its first ever women's junior World Championship after winning the gold medal at the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan, assembled in a small conference hall at Karnail Singh Stadium. Keeping them company was the top brass of the Handball Federation of India (HFI), including president Jagan Mohan Reddy and secretary Tejraj Singh, along with Indian Olympic Association secretary general Rajeev Mehta and senior vice-president Anil Khanna. There was no official representation from either the Sports Ministry or SAI.
HFI executive director and IOA treasurer Anandeshwar Panday alleged that the handball players were deliberately being ignored by the authorities. In fact, he went on to hint that both the sports department and SAI had played dirty. SAI, however, refuted the claims.
"It is a clear attempt to harm players and destroy federations," Panday said. "A high official from the IOA is involved and there was a big attempt to start factionalism in the Handball Federation of India. There was an attempt to stop the team from participating. The Sports Ministry and SAI officials are equally guilty. If need be I will provide evidence in this regard," he added.
Panday further said that while many federations, including India Taekwondo, were getting the funding despite not being recognised, handball was being ignored by the authorities. HFI went to court in December to send its team to participate in the senior men's Asian Championships in Saudi Arabia. The court had directed the government to release funds, which according to HFI wasn't fulfilled. HFI has subsequently taken loans to send both its teams to compete.
"When the court gave a directive to send the men's team, they went and filed an SLP. Is it the job of the Sports Ministry to stop players from participating? This shouldn't happen. SAI should answer why they did not support the team? We have again taken loans to send these girls. Had we waited for the last hour, we could not have sent the team at all. There is a stay order in our favour regarding the dispute. I do not know why they are doing this," Panday said.
SAI, though, retorted, saying that all the expenses, including airfare, was borne by the government. "As per the order of the Honourable Court, SAI has paid for the air travel of all participants, coaches and support staff for the event. It has further transferred the TA/ DA to all contingent members prior to their leaving for the tournament. The hotel booking was done by the contingent, which will be reimbursed to them on actuals," SAI said in a statement.