Capt Amarinder raps IOA, sports officials for not standing by Sarita Devi

New Delhi/Chandigarh, October 2, 2014: Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today lashed out at the officials of the Indian Olympic Association and the sports ministry, accompanying the athletes to South Korea for the ongoing Asian games, for not standing by Sarita Devi who was denied an opportunity to play the finals because of an intentionally malicious judgement to favour the host country boxer Park Jina.
Capt Amarinder also defended Sarita Devi’s decision to return the bronze medal to the Koreans after receiving it at the medal ceremony. He congratulated her for the outstanding performance in the ring and the courage she showed outside the ring by returning the bronze medal while she actually deserved gold or silver had she not been subjected to unfair decision.
The former Punjab Chief Minister expressed surprise as where were the IOA and sports ministry officials sleeping while an ace boxer was subjected to grave injustice. He said, the IOA and the sports ministry must take up the matter at the international level and ensure that the matter is thoroughly investigated. “Instead what we are hearing is that she (Sarita) might face action (for refusing the medal)”, he expressed surprise while remarking, this amounts to adding insult to the injury.
He said, this was not for the first time such a controversial decision was pronounced to favour the host country players in South Korea. He called for strict action against the IOA and sports ministry officials, who showed lackadaisical approach on the occasion. “When the occasion demanded our officials were missing and they must be held accountable for this”, he asserted, while adding, “not only must the country defend Sarita at all levels, but also ensure that the real truth is exposed”.
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