CHENNAI:The 49er FX sailing team selection for Asian Games is getting murkier. A day after it seemed the controversy was about to end, Varsha Gautham, who went to court against the Yachting Association of India’s decision for not selecting her, alleged that during a meeting with the Indian Olympic Association officials and YAI secretary general Atul Anand, she was intimidated and asked to withdraw the case. The association is not amused and said there was no intimidation and that her father too was present during the meeting. The association felt after it consented to arrange for another trial in Jakarta, it would have been ideal if the matter was sorted. However, levelling of such charges have upset officials.
The association felt that even though the court felt there was no need for judicial intervention, they agreed to hold trials. “Since all our equipment has reached Jakarta, we were willing to conduct it there and agreed to pay for Varsha’s air-ticket from Chennai,” said a top official. The association would have spent around `5-6 lakh to conduct the trials. “We have to pay for their tickets and also five international judges. We have to hire the arena and boats and other equipment. Yet we agreed to conduct it.”
However, Varsha’s allegation has not gone down well with the officials. Some are even contemplating not holding the trials and stick to their original plan of sending Ekta Yadav and Shaila Charls. The court has asked Varsha to submit evidence. “We have been asked to submit evidence on what happened during the meeting. The IOA has recorded the entire conversation,” sources close to Varsha said. But the IOA officials present in the meeting said proceedings were peaceful. They did not want to comment further as the issue is in court.
On Saturday, the IOA had recommended the names of Varsha and crew member Sweta Shervegar to the Delhi High Court after Varsha took to court over unfair selection. Varsha and Sweta had won silver at the Asian Sailing Championship in Jakarta ahead of Ekta and Shaila which was enough to secure qualification. But Ekta had finished with a better timing in a selection regatta held in Chennai recently, thereby staking her claim.
With the matter going to court, Ekta’s preparation has suffered. Initially selected by the YAI , she was supposed to leave for a preparatory camp in Poland on July 2, which she could not. With the sailors spending most of their time in the court, they have little time to train and that might also affect their performance. There will be a hearing on Thursday on what happened during the meeting with IOA officials and YAI secretary general.
vimalsankar@newindianexpress.com