Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal was left fuming when her father was reportedly removed from the official list at the Commonwealth Games Village at the Gold Coast despite having been cleared by India’s sports ministry as an extra official with the badminton team.
The Olympic bronze medallist and former world number 1 vented her frustration on social media and claimed her father was denied access to the Games Village.
“…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,” she tweeted.
Indian Badminton star Saina Nehwal with her parents. Source: Twitter
“I wanted his support as I regularly take him for my competitions ...but didn’t understand why nobody informed me all this earlier .. that he can’t enter anywhere,” she wrote.
According to the CWG accreditation guide, extra team officials can access the Commonwealth Games Village and Own sports venues.
reports that an official with the Indian contingent said the issue would be resolved by Wednesday.
"We were surprised about the whole issue. As far as I know, the mistake is from the Indian side. We were told that the issue would be sorted out by tomorrow," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.
The Indian Sports Ministry cleared Nehwal’s father Harvir Singh and fellow shuttler PV Sindhu’s mother Vijaya Pusarla to travel with the squad as ‘extra officials’ despite initial hesitation.
It’s not known whether Ms Sindhu’s mother is also facing the similar situation.
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