The Indian Olympic Association has hit back at golfers S. S. P. Chawrasia and Anirban Lahiri’s accusations that the national body had treated them badly at the Rio Olympic Games.
Speaking after the Annual General Meeting of the IOA here, President N. Ramachandran said: “First and foremost there were no commitments from IOA to Chawrasia. Secondly, he said there was no visa given, he didn’t even get his accreditation card. Then please tell me without applying for a visa how did he go to Brazil? Can you step foot in Brazil without accreditation and visa? He collected and then went.”
READ: >Chawrasia: 'IOA treated us like servants in Rio'
He added: “Now four months after the event, he is blaming the IOA. He never came to us. He went only to Government of India.”
Ramachandran said that Chawrasia wrote to the IOA asking for funds for personal equipments. “He wrote to us, asking for Rs 30 lakh. But it was for personal equipment. We don’t fund athlete’s personal equipments. We train them, we launch them, we board (provide accommodation) them.
“If their account number is given to the IOA, it (the money) will be sent to them by RTGS. If he hasn’t, it would have not been done,” Ramachandran said.
Lahiri had earlier said that he is yet to receive the allocated amount form the Sports Ministry and IOA. However, IOA Secretary-general Rajeev Mehta said: “We have paid (him) and we have the receipts also.”
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