The Hindu : Sport : Delhi vs New Delhi: the controversy continues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 21, 2004

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

Delhi vs New Delhi: the controversy continues

NEW DELHI, JULY 19. A controversy has arisen over the participation of a Delhi team in the International Children's Games to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, from July 29 to August 2.

A 27-member team was chosen by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) after having conducted trials. The team is to participate in swimming (boys and girls), football (boys) and tennis (boys and girls), in the age group of 12 to 15 years.

Even as the PHDCCI was finalising its plans, the Delhi Government, acting on an invitation forwarded by the Union Sports Ministry had also gone through a series of trials to select a contingent. The selection was done after the State Education Directorate placed an advertisement in newspapers.

Now, the Delhi Government-selected team has been left in the lurch since the organising committee has informed that there cannot be two Delhi teams. For good measure, the PHDCCI team has christened itself as `New Delhi.'

The leader of the PHDCCI delegation, S.K. Sarkar, who is the chairman of the PHDCCI Sports Committee, said that the chamber had received invitation from a governing body member of the Ohio Chamber of Industry.

The aggrieved competitors and their parents recently met the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, to sort matters out. Though she assured all help, according to one of the coaches, nothing had taken shape. On Monday, the parents met officials in the Secretariat again but were told that there was no time left to either send entries or to tie up other arrangements.

The Cleveland organisers have suggested that the Delhi Government-selected team could come in, even at this late hour, as some other city's representative.

Obviously that suggestion is unacceptable since the Delhi Government would have borne the expenditure had its team gained entry. It is not clear how two different invitations were sent by the U.S. organisers to select one city's team. The Delhi Government apparently washed its hands off the matter after having initiated a process of selection, leaving one batch of children disappointed.

"We have not received anything from the Indian Consulate regarding your team. We can still try to accommodate your participation in the International Children's Games, but since the team assembled by the PHDCCI is representing Delhi, it will be necessary for your group to represent another city in the region," wrote the President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, David E. Gilbert, to a representative of the Delhi Government-selected team. Getting visas at such a short notice was another concern.

Mr. Sarkar said that the team PHDCCI had assembled should get the U.S. visas on Tuesday. "The Cleveland organisers have already intimated the U.S. Embassy in Delhi and we should have no problem in getting the visas," he said.

It was learnt on Tuesday that Mr. Sarkar had offered the `other group' places for athletes in the PHDCCI team, though each athlete would be expected to pay Rs. one lakh to make the trip, just as all others were being charged.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport