Squash player offers to sell his kidney, apologises later

The 23-year-old Ravi Dixit had offered to sell his kidney for Rs. 8 lakh on Facebook to fund his campaign for next month's South Asian Games. The controversial post, which has been taken off now, gathered more attention after it was picked up by the mainstream media.

Ravi Dixit won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian junior championship.

Squash player Ravi Dixit, who tried to sell his kidney on social media on Sunday, apologised for his actions today through a letter written to the President of the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI).

The 23-year-old Dixit had offered to sell his kidney for Rs. 8 lakh on Facebook to fund his campaign for next month’s South Asian Games. The controversial post, which has been taken off now, gathered more attention after it was picked up by the mainstream media.

Apologising to his family and the various organisations that have supported him, Dixit said that the “statement (on Facebook) was made at spur of the moment” and he never intended to sell his kidney.

“I did not realise there is so much to be read into this until I received a call from a reporter,” he said.

Dixit also said that he was keen to pursue squash. “Squash is my life and I wish to continue playing it,” he added in the letter.

Meanwhile the President of SRFI, Debendranath Sarangi said that Dixit has been training at the Indian Squash Academy (ISA) for nine years now. The ISA and SRFI, according to Sarangi, provide him financial assistance (in addition to the funding from Ministry of Sports and Dhampur Sugar Mills). Dixit has also been abroad for training.