RFI President irked over Bhokanan's letter to Athlete commission

President of Rowing Federation of India (RFI), Rajlaxmi Singh Deo, was dismayed over Dattu Baban Bhokanal's letter to Athletes Commission over his ban.

"We are really really shocked that he has written directly to the Indian Olympic Association athletes commission because he could have applied to RFI athletes commission," Rajlaxmi Singh told ANI on Tuesday.

RFI imposed a ban on Bhokanal on March 29 last year. However, the Olympian wrote a letter to Athletes' Commission requesting them to reduce the period of a ban to enable him to qualify and compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Commission's chairman Anju Bobby George had written to IOA requesting a review of the two-year ban imposed on the rower and in this regard.

Rajlaxmi said that Bhokanal was banned as he admitted to charges of misconduct at the executive committee meeting.

"On two deeds of misconducts we gave Bhokanal a showcase notice and at the executive committee meeting, he admitted to both charges of misconduct. So we unanimously decided to ban him for two years," she added.

Earlier, the Indian Olympic Association has written a letter to RFI to share the rules of Bhokanal's suspension and the mechanisms of appeal for an athlete against such a ban.