CWG 2018: IOA Dismisses Saina Nehwal's Complaint About Father Not Getting Lodging In Games Village

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Tuesday brushed off Saina Nehwal's complaint over her father Harvir Singh Nehwal's stay in the Commonwealth Games Village (CGV). The IOA informed that Saina' father's name is in the list of the accredited extra-officials but the payment for accreditation does not include a bed at the CGV. The IOA tweeted a long reply to Saina and said," "Dear @NSaina , Mr. Harvir Singh is an accredited Extra Official! As stated in the CDM Manual of Gold Coast 2018 CWG and repeatedly conveyed to BAI, the payment for accreditation of Extra Official does not include bed in the Games Village."

Dear @NSaina , Mr. Harvir Singh is an accredited Extra Official! As stated in the CDM Manual of Gold Coast 2018 CWG and repeatedly conveyed to BAI, the payment for accreditation of Extra Official does not include bed in the Games Village. pic.twitter.com/cuafVeKxwr

— IOA - Team India (@ioaindia) April 3, 2018

Along with the tweet, the IOA also attached a picture of an official document which stated "the ETO service charge for an extra Team Official... does not include a travel grant or bed in the CGV."

Earlier, Olympic medallist Saina vented her anger in a series of tweets, claiming that her father Harvir's name was removed from the Indian team officials' list for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The Sports Ministry had earlier cleared the names of Saina's father and PV Sindhu's mother to travel with the Indian contingent at no cost to the government. However, the Indian badminton star tweeted that after the reaching the Games village, she found out that her father's name was cut off from the list.

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina tagged the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to express her concern.

Surprise to see that when we started from India for commonwealth games 2018 my father was confirmed as the team official and I paid the whole amount for that but when we came to the games village ... his name was cut from team official category .. and he can't even stay with me .

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) April 2, 2018

He can't c my matches and he can't enter the village nor he can meet me in anyway .. what kind of support is this ..@thecgf

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) April 2, 2018

I wanted his support as I regularly take him for my competitions ...but i didn't understand why nobody informed me all this earlier .. that he can't enter anywhere #CommonwealthGames2018

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) April 2, 2018

Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra also dismissed Saina's complaint in a tweet.

Am sure as a member of the @olympics Athletes committee you are well aware of accreditation protocols. Wishing you all the best for the CWG.

— Abhinav Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 2, 2018

Talking to ANI, Vikram Singh Sisodia, Chef-de-Mission for CWG, informed that they are looking into the matter.

According to sources, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is in constant touch with Saina to sort things out in Gold Coast.

"The IOA is in conversation with the game organisers to work it out. The beds can be shared also, so who do they get him (Saina's father) to share the bed with, they are working it out," a source said.

The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are slated to begin from April 4, with the opening ceremony scheduled to start at 1525 hrs IST.

The 12-day event will end on April 15.

(With ANI inputs)