India's Sochi Olympics 2014 disgrace: Who said what

Three Indian athletes -- luger Shiva Keshavan, Alpine skier Himanshu Thakur and cross-country skier Nadeem Iqbal -- will not be able to flaunt their national flag at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games opening ceremony on Friday night. Since December 2012, the Indian Olympic Association remains suspended by the International Olympic Committee due to ethical and administrative reasons. Former Indian Olympic athletes are sad that the tri-colour has been shamed due to a bunch of arrogant and inept IOA officials. The IOA, of course, is saying that it can't be blamed for this disgrace. (Read: Google Doodle flies gay flag, quotes Olympic Charter)

Here's who is saying what:

Milkha Singh (former athlete): "It's very shameful. National pride is supreme and people should remember this while fighting for chair. It doesn't matter if there are only three players participating, it is a dream for every player to compete under the national flag. The government should intervene and get the issue resolved at IOA."

Ashwini Nachappa (former sprinter): "It's a disgrace. The authorities are insensitive towards the athletes. They are not bothered who is taking part or not. We had asked the IOA to advance the elections, but nobody heard us. They are very arrogant people. But we should still be proud of our athletes."

Mansher Singh (shooter): "There should have been a way out. The elections (scheduled on February 9) could have been held before. No excuse for that. The fact remains that when you see your flag in the opening ceremony, you feel like a warrior for your country. It gives you a big motivation. You get a feeling of history. That lack of identity will hurt our athletes because the crowd will not be able to identify them in the opening ceremony."

Tarlochan Singh (VP, IOA): "After the elections are held, the IOA will take at least a month to investigate everything. We are following IOC rules and IOA can't be faulted. A lot of people are talking without knowing the facts. We were aware of the timing of the Sochi Games. It's not that IOA don't care about the athletes, but we have a democratic process and can't rush elections. Media must know the facts before slamming us".

V. Baskaran (Hockey captain and coach): "I blame the IOA for this fiasco, because it is they who have to attend the IOC meetings, not any other ministry. The government, the sports ministry and other sports federations have had a talk about the issue for many months. It is high time that all the country's big athletes should come together and make a big issue out of it because the playing athletes will feel lack of inspiration whenever they go out during any ceremony."