Lovlina Borgohain, the Bronze Medallist at Tokyo Olympics, has accused the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) of mental harassment for not allowing her personal coach to the venue for the Commonwealth Games.
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Sandhya Gurung, her personal coach, was with her in Ireland for the training sessions in Ireland, but couldn’t get the required accreditation to reach Birmingham. Gurung had played an immense role in Borgohain’s Olympic preparation last year, and the pugilist’s preparations have been terribly hampered in her absence.
“Today with a lot of grief, I want to tell everyone about the continuous harassment going on with me. The coaches who helped me win the Olympic medal are always being side-lined which has severely impacted my training schedule,” Borgohain tweeted.
“One of the coaches is Sandhya Gurungji, who is a Dronacharya awardee. I had to plead with folded hands to get my coaches included in the contingent. I am feeling mentally harassed because of this ordeal,” she added.
Borgohain also said that she had gone through the same ordeals in the World Championships. “I don’t understand how will I focus on the Games (CWG) amidst all this? My world championships also suffered because of this.”
BFI, the governing body for boxing, clarified that only 33% of the Indian contingent were allowed as support staff, meaning they could arrange accreditations for only 4 coaches for the 12 boxers participating in the event.
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The controversy soon took a political turn, after senior Congress leader Priyanka Vadra highlighted quoted Borgohain’s tweet, asking for immediate intervention from the concerned authorities.
“Lovlina Borgohai is an asset to our nation, she should be encouraged and supported in every way. I hope the government will look into her complaint and do everything possible to stop the harassment she is facing,” wrote Vadra.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports soon intervened, stating that they have ordered Indian Olympic Association to immediately arrange the accreditation for Borgohain’s coach.
Later on, the IOC increased the quota of support staff. “The IOA understood BFI’s point of view and therefore, extended help with the maximum possible additional support staff. With IOA’s help the number of support staff went up from 4 to 8 for the entire contingent of 12 boxers,” read the statement from the BFI.
Featured Image Credit: BFI/Twitter
