Saina Nehwal draws support after speaking out about Olympic reward woes

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Naresh Agarwal today came out in support of badminton player Saina Nehwal who had yesterday stated that she had not yet received the amount of Rs 50 lakhs promised to her by the then Andhra Pradesh Government.

Agarwal told ANI, "I agree with Saina. Unlike say China, which gives importance to sports, our country doesn't give any help to sportspersons. The families of players who win medals for our country just starve. So, I agree with her and if our country doesn't help sportspersons, then nobody will take interest in sports here."

Yesterday, Saina had stated that while she was happy about Sania Mirza being made the brand ambassador of Telangana, she was still waiting for her promised reward after she won the Olympic gold medal.

Saina had tweeted, "I am happy to know that Sania Mirza has become the brand ambassador of telengana and I am proud of telengana but - I am very hurt and sad that I have still not received the cash award from my state for the Olympic bronze medal that I won for my country."

NCP leader Majid Memon also spoke out in favour of Saina saying that if any state government promises a reward to our players then it should live up to it otherwise the players tend to get demoralized.