Lifters slam SAI for lack of equipment

The Indian Weightlifting Federation has blamed the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for lack of facilities at the Commonwealth Games preparation camp at the Army Sports Institute in Pune....

The Indian Weightlifting Federation has blamed the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for lack of facilities at the Commonwealth Games preparation camp at the Army Sports Institute in Pune,and said that it will have no option but to call off training unless the shortfall is met soon.

The facilities at the Army Sports Institute belong to the Army,but SAI is responsible for ensuring proper infrastructure. The Army has been kind enough to allow our players to use their facilities,but we are falling woefully short as we have close to 60 competitors training in the camp, IWF general secretary BR Gulati told The Indian Express.

Since we have not been provided with basic facilities,we have been left with no option but to cancel the camp or reduce the number of competitors, Gulati added.

Requests unheeded

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According to him,the IWF has been waiting for the past nine months for the training equipments. I am aware that it takes at least three months to procure the equipment,but we have offered alternatives like borrowing it from the Bangalore and Patiala centres. Those requests have gone unheeded, Gulati said.

The federation has now written a letter to the sports ministry.

SAI assistant director Virendra Bhandarkar said that the required equipment will have to be exported from Europe,and that would mean big costs,and hence procedural delays. We look to offer the best facilities and these facilities will take time to arrive from Europe. The cost can go up to Rs 28 lakh and so,such a requisition takes time to be processed, he said.

He added that most of the camps for the Commonwealth Games had begun recently so there was no question of the federation making the request last year. He also said that transferring equipment from other SAI centres was not an option as it was in use by them. If the federation knew there was a shortage of facilities at the Army Sports Institute,they should not have organised the camp there, he said.