RSS leader and India's current Federal Sports Minister - Vijay Goel.
Current Events
Rio Olympics Committee Threatens To Ban India’s Sports Minister
ANNIE GOWEN, The Washington Post
India’s Sports Minister, Vijay Goel, has been a conspicuous presence at Rio’s Olympic Games, frequently spotted in the stands cheering on Indian athletes and taking selfies after their events.
But he and his large entourage have apparently raised the ire of Olympic officials with unruly behavior, repeatedly trying to push their way into competition zones without the proper credentials and responding rudely when checked, the Press Trust of India reported.
On Wednesday, August 10, 2016, Olympic organizers threatened to withdraw Minister Goel’s accreditation if the behavior did not improve, sending a warning letter after he and his entourage tried to enter restricted areas in the gymnastics venue and the arena where fencing and taekwondo are held.
“We have had multiple reports of your Minister for Sports trying to enter accredited areas at venues with unaccredited individuals,” Sarah Peterson, Continental Manager of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, wrote in the note. “When the staff tried to explain that this is not allowed, they reported that the people with the Minister have become aggressive and rude and sometimes pushed past our staff.”
“Should our protocol team be made aware of further examples of this type of behavior, the accreditation of your Minister for Sports will be cancelled and his privileges at the Olympic Games withdrawn,” the letter continued.
The leader of the Indian delegation called the matter “a non-issue being made an issue,” and Goel said he had done nothing wrong, chalking it up to a “misunderstanding.”
Otherwise, it’s been a gloomy Olympics for India, with zero medals so far. Bummed-out fans on social media noted that Michael Phelps now has as many medals -- 26 -- as India has won in its entire history. Several prominent contenders have been eliminated, including shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won a gold medal in Beijing in 2008. He placed fourth this time.
“Go to Rio. Take selfies. Come back empty handed. What a waste of money and opportunity,” India’s renowned author and columnist Shobha De said in a sardonic tweet.
[For a country of 1.25 billion people which brags of having one of the largest chunks of the world‘s wealth (albeit in the hands of a handful), India’s low medal count has always been a source of consternation. It periodically comes up with novel excuses and justifications.].
India has not invested heavily in infrastructure and training for its sports mens and women. The lone Indian female gymnast, Dipa Karmakar, for example, had her first training vault made from parts of an old scooter.
More significantly, India’s sports governing bodies have been dogged by corruption. The International Olympic Committee suspended the Indian Olympic Association for violations of its charter in 2012 because it had elected leaders with pending criminal charges.
In Sochi, India’s three winter Olympians were not even allowed to compete for their country, carry the flag or wear the insignia. They competed as independents.
Annie Gowen is The Washington Post’s India Bureau Chief and has reported for the Post throughout South Asia and the Middle East.
[Courtesy: The Washington Post. Edited for sikhchic.com]
August 14, 2016
Conversation about this article
1: Shiva Rajan (New Delhi, India), August 14, 2016, 10:36 AM.
This should really, really help boost the morale of the Indian Olympic team.
2: Gagan Kaur (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), August 14, 2016, 10:40 AM.
So far, 65 nations have won Olympic medals at Rio, including some of the world's smallest and poorest nations. India? It is in the last rank -- 66th, rock bottom -- with its proud record of NO medals! This is Hindutva's shining hour! How does one explain this extraordinary achievement? Simple ... they invented the 'loser' in the Vedic times.
3: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), August 14, 2016, 7:58 PM.
August 14th's TODAY'S QUOTE on sikhchic.com fits perfectly as a comment to this story. You might add 'fake arrogance' as well: "Power will go to ... rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low caliber & men of straw. They will have sweet tongues & silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves ... India will be lost in political squabbles." Winston Churchill, 1947
4: Hardev Singh (Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.), August 15, 2016, 1:20 AM.
India's Sports Minister should have been banned from Rio and sent packing home, where no doubt he would get a hero's welcome.
5: Jasmine Biswas (Kolkata, India), August 15, 2016, 1:26 PM.
Not to worry ... our goofy minister is back on Indian soil, having been hastily yanked back to New Delhi, where he's back to his daily stupidities. Upon his return, he quickly misspelled this country's leading sports star's name, then tweeted on another and posted the wrong photo ... and so on and so forth. Sadly, he fits the mold and meets the criteria needed to become part of Modi's government: he is as ignorant and uncouth as his colleagues.
6: Harcharan Singh (Singapore), August 16, 2016, 2:29 AM.
Singapore, a nation of 5 million people, has at least got one gold ... in swimming. 5 million to 1.2 billion? What a distance?
7: Brij M Lal (Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India), August 18, 2016, 12:04 PM.
Indians have gone gaga over India's bronze win - India's only medal at Rio so far, on its 12th day - yesterday. India's securing the 70th rank at the 2016 Olympics - the lowest rung on the ladder of national medal holders, proudly shared with sports giants like Dominican Republic, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova, is sure proof that India is a great civilization and Hindutva the fount of all that is glorious on this planet. Right?
8: Arjan Singh (USA), August 18, 2016, 4:43 PM.
We in the diaspora must get our children involved in sports and take them to the Olympic level. Canada already is including Sikhs in their Olympic squads; and Australia will soon follow suit. If we had prepared for and participated in the Olympics as a separate team, we would have won more Gold medals than the rest of the India since Independence. Majority of the Indians hang on to a single sport of cricket (that has no value for Olympics), and even that sport has now become a racketeering business. Since Independence, India's Sports Ministry, with tacit support from the central Government, has reduced Hockey to a side-show in a piecemeal fashion, as I am sure the disproportionate representation of the Sikhs in Field Hockey (as in many other sports as well) must have rankled them to utter distraction.
9: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), August 20, 2016, 9:51 PM.
Luckily the obnoxious Minister of Sports wasn't there any more, otherwise India would have lost the bronze and silver medals too as he would have distracted them in just taking selfies with him.
10: Arjan Singh (USA), August 26, 2016, 3:44 PM.
An Indian athlete O J Jaisha claims that she was not provided essential refreshments and water during her event at the Rio Olympics by the Indian officials at the Olympics. Winning a gold medal (or any medal) at an Olympic event is not the result of some vedic hocus pocus or prayers and rituals offered to some idol or the other. It takes organization, training and team work on the part of the entire Olympic contingent. Clearly the Indian contingent lacked even the basic team work on the part of the officials to support the athletes who made it to the Olympic arena.