Sarita Devi received no help from officials in Incheon, says lawyer

Sports lawyer Rahul Mehra on Friday alleged that pugilist Sarita Devi received no help and guidance from the Indian officials during the recent Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, which led to her protest and subsequent suspension by the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

"Nobody stood by Sarita Devi except her husband. If there was support from the officials there, she would not have been forced to protest in such a manner. We should not blame her; rather we should blame the officials who are disconnected from the sports," Mehra told ANI.

Holding the officials present in Incheon as responsible, Mehra also alleged that sports officials are completely disconnected from the games that they are in charge of.

"Abhinav Bindra in his book writes that the then- Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi did not even know his name and congratulated him by using somebody else's name. This is the level of connect that these people have with the sports," Mehra said.

"It is a very sad day that Sarita Devi is being made to go through so many difficulties but I am not at all surprised that this has happened. This happened time and again. Over the last decade, all our icons and sporting legends have been treated in the same manner," he added.

Mehra also questioned the reason why the behaviour of Indian officials goes unpunished abroad, accusing them of bringing disrepute to the country.

"Sarita Devi is only symptomatic of a larger malaise that is taking place in our sporting system. It is the administrators who are at fault. It is the sports ministry which is at fault. These people had gone on a junket to Incheon. Had they gone for a party? They were representing India," he said.

"Players have a certain code of conduct. Do these officials have a code of conduct? They go on foreign soils and bring disrepute to the country, yet no heads are rolled. In the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, two IOA officials disgraced the country with their behaviour," Mehra added.

The AIBA suspended Sarita Devi and her coaches indefinitely because of her protest at the 2014 Asian Games. An emotional Sarita Devi had refused to accept the bronze medal at the podium during the award ceremony in protest at a controversial verdict handed out against her.