RIO DE JANEIRO: India’s chef-de-mission at the ongoing Rio Olympics, Rakesh Gupta, attempted to downplay the controversy surrounding Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel and said that he would respond only after getting all details from the organising committee.
Gupta told ANI that none of the incidents took place when he was with the Sports Minister and expressed surprise as to how this story cooked up.
“When I was with him when there was a match with Argentina at the hockey ground, he (Vijay Goel) told me that he wanted to meet the players and I took the permission for that. I was also there. They allowed us because we got the access. That is the only incident that I know about. None of the incidents took place when I was there with the Minister,” Gupta told ANI.
“About other things, I only came to know through press. We have asked the organizing committee to give us the details and only after that, we will respond,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Sports Minister returned to New Delhi on the wee hours this morning and stated that he would clear the 'misconceptions' on the controversy surrounding him with solid facts.
"There are a lot of misconceptions regarding this issue right now which I will clear when the time is right. I will put my side of the story ahead with facts in due time. It's 2 a.m. right now and I don't think this is the time to speak on such things," Goel said on his arrival in New Delhi.
The Rio Olympic Organising Committee, in a scathing letter to the India's chef-de-mission, had threatened to cancel Goel’s accreditation for being 'aggressive and rude' and trying to bring other non-accredited people at the accredited areas of the Games venues.
Denying his involvement in any miff with the Summer Games organisers, the Sports Minister wrote on Twitter that there seems to be some misunderstanding.
"To my knowledge, we have been following all rules and regulations. We are committed to the spirit of Olympics and back our Indian players. There seems to be some misunderstanding as we have followed all protocols as advised by the organizers," Goel tweeted.
The warning about Goel's accreditation could be revoked reportedly came from Sarah Peterson, the continental manager for the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee.