Click to play videoNew Delhi: Imagine landing in a country as a sporting ambassador and then learning that the government hasn't cleared your team. That's what has happened to the Indian football team.
The Sports Ministry has struck down nearly 200 names from the contingent for the Doha Asian Games including the football team.
The Indian Olympic Association isn't too happy and says it will now foot the bill from its own pocket in case the Sports Ministry doesn't reconsider.
But now that the Indian football team has reached in Doha for the Asian Games, they find themselves in a strange predicament. The Indian Olympic Association had sent a list of 589 athletes for the Games. The Ministry has cleared only 387.
"The last time, Government did not clear Taekwondo. We took them on our own account. They won medals. For football, we know we are not going to win any medal. We know in rugby we are not going to win any medal. But we are taking them for other reasons, for international exposure," says IOC President Suresh Kalmadi.
The Sports Ministry has gone by the book. It says that it will send only those who have a chance of winning medals. Any team or athlete who finished sixth at the last Asian Games or Asian championships have been cleared.
"They are looking at it with only the winning medals aspect. We are looking at it as an exposure and participation. So it is the way you look at it, says Randhir Singh.
Sources in the IOA paint a different picture. They say that an internal committee had cleared only about 230 athletes based on medal prospects. But with big events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games being organised in Delhi, senior officials want to make an impact with a large contingent.
But the Sports Ministry isn't buying that argument.
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