For once everything seemed quiet in the Indian camp. There have been teething issues here and there but overall indications were the National Sports Federation, the Indian Olympic Association along with the sports ministry managed to accommodate requests of athletes’ requirements. Now it seems somewhat like a facade. As the curtains are set to go up on Friday, there are some dissatisfactions among athletes, coaches and support staff regarding access to venues during competitions. There are a few coaches and support staff from badminton, table tennis, swimming, hockey and boxing, who are in Tokyo but without access to the Games Village and competition arena. They can access only training venues.
Let’s go to another related issue. What comes as a surprise is that a sport like wrestling doesn’t have a physio in the mix. All wrestlers felt the need for one but wrestler Vinesh Phogat had been pleading with the federation but nothing as of now has materialised. Her request was forwarded even before the lists were finalised. Considering she is our medal hope in wrestling, this seems like a gross oversight. However, Brajesh Kumar has been listed as the physio. He is currently with the men wrestlers — Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia — in Russia and will travel to Tokyo for the Games. He apparently has a P category card. All those with P category cards have to stay in hotels outside the Games Village.
Though the WFI said it had sent Vinesh’s physio name, Poornima R Ngomdir, to the IOA who forwarded it to the Tokyo organising committee, there are some officials who claim the name did not figure in the initial long list — that is the first list each of the federations sent. Poornima has accompanied the 53kg wrestler for the exposure trip and is currently with her in Hungary.
This time around, the organisers had been strict and are apparently not accepting accreditation requests if the name doesn’t figure on that list and that apparently is causing problems getting an accreditation. Perhaps the wrestling federation will have the appropriate answer here. At the same time, it is baffling to see a top WFI official accompanying the team with access to the Games Village rather than a physio. The federation should know what kind of support its athletes need. And in Vinesh’s case the federation should have taken care of it instead of the athlete requesting. Perhaps it would be prudent for WFI to come clear on this.
There have been occasions when officials opted out. Federations like the Badminton Association of India managed the accreditation process in a much more subtle way. BAI secretary Ajay Singhania and chief national coach P Gopichand opted out for a coach and an extra physio — Sumansh. Yet, Sumansh has P category accreditation with limited access (no Games Village and competition venue) so does Sai Praneeth’s coach Agus Dwi Santoso. They will not have access to the competition venue unless day passes are organised (which as of now are not available). Same with Manika Batra’s personal coach Sanmay Paranjape. But a top TT official is in the Games Village. The players wanted a physio but could not be accommodated.
This time because of the pandemic, access to the Games Village has been restricted. Even the day pass when a coach could go to the Village and work with the athletes is not possible due to the pandemic.