GOLD COAST: The descent over Brisbane was enthralling. The azure horizon melted into the deep blue of the sea. The silhouettes of the city line piercing the sky, a reflection of modern-day progress, quietly mingling with nature’s magnificence presented a perfect picture as we touched down in Brisbane early on Tuesday morning. There are dedicated Commonwealth Games corridors as soon as you alight from the aircraft. There are volunteers lending a helping hand in whatever way possible. Everything seemed perfect, well almost.
The two dominant themes that seem to be prevailing right now are the syringes that were found in the rooms of Indian athletes despite strict no syringe policy in the Games Village and of course, the illegal entry of nine persons allegedly masquerading as a media team last week. Immigration officials have been accosting Indian journalists since last week’s fiasco. Though the officials are polite, they ask questions like why have we come to Australia? How long are we going to stay? We had to verify our genuineness and reveal our itinerary. The verification, in fact, starts from Singapore. If officials in Singapore find something suspicious, the person flags it to Brisbane. Interrogation in Games is rare. A little bit of prodding revealed that it was a policy the government has adopted this time. All Indian journalists were subjected to intense scrutiny.
Syringegate over
The Commonwealth Games Federation finally gave the benefit of doubt to the Indian boxing team. The boxers were let off with a reprimand of the doctor who administered injections to them. The CGF had already clarified that the boxers were not being investigated under any anti-doping rules.According to the CGF, the No Needle Policy meant that needles are required to be stored in a central secured location, access to which is restricted to authorized medical personnel of the CGA delegation. “The needles in question were not disposed of until he had made two trips to the Polyclinic. A copy of it should be sent to the India team,” said the CGF statement. David Grevemberg, the CEO of Commonwealth Games Federation, said the issue was not anti-doping violations. The result? Indians have been subjected to a more intense dope testing ritual.
Sandpapergate ongoing
Former Australia captain Steve Smith’s ignominy — he, along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, were banned for ball tampering — is still talk of the town. The scars from Cape Town are still fresh but healing. Though most Australians feel it was indeed something that would not be forgotten in recent times, they are slowly trying to get over it. Some say that everyone does it. So what’s the big deal?Even TV shows here are trying to apply some kind of soothing balm. Our cabbie, who is a cricket buff, even laughed about it. “Yesterday Special Broadcasting Service was showing an hour-long programme on ball tampering,” he said with a chuckle. “We are trying to show how everyone has been doing it!” Another fan thought it was a bit too harsh.
indraneel.das@newindianexpress.com