Boxing Federation of India (BFI) secretary Hemanta Kalita on Monday said the federation tried its best to get an accreditation for Tokyo bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain’s coach Sandhya Gurung.
“The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) allotted 33 per cent officials on the total number of athletes. We have 12 athletes, so we got four officials. After that we made a request and got another four. This includes coaches, a doctor, physio etc. We put Sandhya Gurung's name in the long list, we requested for her inclusion, the SAI also sanctioned her name, but the IOA is not doing it,” Kalita told Sportstar.
Lovlina had earlier alleged mental harassment ahead of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. “It is with a lot of sadness that I say that I have been experiencing a lot of harassment,” Borgohain said in a post on Twitter on Monday.
Meanwhile, Kalita gave further insights: “Since this is a group event, Sandhya's name has gone as personal coach. Everyone needs a personal coach. We gave two women's coaches who coach everybody. Even that is not enough. There is a doctor, two physios and a masseur. We could not even send a team manager. We needed at least 15 people.
“The BFI has requested for Sandhya’s accreditation many times. Now without an accreditation card she cannot enter (the field of play and training arena). We did whatever we could do. Sending personal coaches is a problem. We put Sandhya's name only for Lovlina. We requested the SAI and the SAI also requested the IOA for this. It's not being done at the IOA level. If the IOA gives accreditation, then we will allow her. We are following up on this with the IOA. We have asked Sandhya to stay back. She is still there (in England),” said Kalita.
Gurung speaks up
“The problem came when I arrived in the Games village. I was told my name was not included in the list of accreditated coaches. I have been told that the federation is trying to solve the matter by today evening,” Lovlina’s coach Gurung told Sportstar.
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