Over 300 athletes fail to furnish bills worth ₹8cr, SAI contemplates action
The matter came to light following SAI’s financial audit and came up for discussion on Wednesday in Mission Olympics Cell’s meeting
New Delhi: Over 300 elite athletes, including Olympic medallists, failed to furnish their travel bills to the tune of ₹8cr in the recently-concluded Paris Olympics cycle, irking the sports ministry and Sports Authority of India (SAI). The matter came to light following SAI’s financial audit and came up for discussion on Wednesday in Mission Olympics Cell’s (MOC) meeting.
A number of MOC members, it has been learned, proposed penal action against defaulters, including deductions from athletes’ Out of Pocket Allowance (OPA) -- which is a monthly stipend of ₹50,000 -- and cash rewards given by the government.
A total of 315 athletes are yet to submit their expenses amounting to ₹8,78,27,962. According to the presentation at the MOC meeting, prominent athletes yet to submit bills include weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, badminton ace Saina Nehwal, and sprinter Hima Das.
The presentation also mentioned that Chanu is yet to produce invoices worth ₹88,88,028 dating back three years. In this period, she and national coach Vijay Sharma made multiple training trips to St Louis in USA where the Tokyo silver medallist trained under Dr Aaron Horschig.
Vinesh Phogat, who agonisingly lost out on a certain medal after failing to make weight ahead of her 50kg final, hasn’t produced bills worth ₹42,22,089 dating back two years while Tokyo bronze medallist Bajrang Punia’s outstanding invoices are worth ₹12,53,161 over two years, according to the presentation.
Saina, another official privy to the meeting said, hasn’t given bills worth ₹5,07,555 since 2022 while Hima Das hasn’t submitted her invoices in four years, amounting to ₹1,44,404, the presentation showed.
While Chanu is still an active athlete, Phogat announced her retirement post Paris Olympics. Punia is currently serving a doping suspension while former world No.1 Saina last competed in Singapore Open 2023. Out of 315 sportspersons, 146 are currently covered by TOPS while 169 are ex TOPS athletes.
“It has been observed that a lot of our athletes haven’t furnished their bills going back years even though they are supposed to send their invoices within15 days of their return. Every athlete has a dedicated Athlete Relationship Manager (ARM) who is supposed to take care of these things. Some ARMs have told us that despite several reminders, the athletes haven’t forwarded them their bills,” an official said.
“We have sent them multiple reminders by way of emails and phone calls but some athletes didn’t even take our calls. The MOC members were certain that some action needs to be taken, but there hasn’t been a decision yet,” the official said.
HT reached out to Chanu, Punia, and Phogat for their comments but despite repeated attempts, the athletes were not reachable. Phogat’s husband Somvir Rathee said she was busy and would get back at a suitable time.
Compound archers added
The MOC also included seven compound archers in TOPS core group following sport’s inclusion (mixed team event) in 2028 Los Angeles Games. These include Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami, Ojas Deotale, Abhishek Verma, Parneet Kaur, Priyansh, and Prathmesh Jawkar.
The MOC also included seven compound archers in TOPS core group following sport’s inclusion (mixed team event) in 2028 Los Angeles Games. These include Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami, Ojas Deotale, Abhishek Verma, Parneet Kaur, Priyansh, and Prathmesh Jawkar.
The MOC also included seven compound archers in TOPS core group following sport’s inclusion (mixed team event) in 2028 Los Angeles Games. These include Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami, Ojas Deotale, Abhishek Verma, Parneet Kaur, Priyansh, and Prathmesh Jawkar.
“MOC took cognizance of the International Olympic Committee’s recent decision to make compound archery part of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics,” SAI stated.
The MOC also cleared 56 proposals across TOPS, TEAMS and TAGG (Target Asian Games Group) disciplines amounting ₹4.37 crore.
“For induction in TOPS Core, the seven archers fulfilled the eligibility criteria of having average arrow score of 9.77+ for men and 9.67+ for women apart from being a medallist at the recently held World Championships or World Games,” the SAI release stated.
The MOC also cleared long jumper Shaili Singh’s proposal for financial assistance to compete in the UAE Grand Prix on May 9 and UAE Athletics Women’s Gala on May 11. Boxer Nikhat Zareen’s request for financial assistance to participate in 17-day international training in Tashkent with Uzbekistan team from May 8-23 was also approved.
Table tennis players Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula were granted advance towards competing in the ITTF World Championship in Doha, Qatar, from May 17-25.
Fifteen-year-old tennis player Maaya Rajeswaran’s proposal seeking financial assistance for 22 international competitions and training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain till December this year was also approved by the MOC.
