A furious Saina Nehwal took to Twitter to complain in a series of Tweets about the removal of her father, Harvir Singh Nehwal’s name from the Indian team’s officials list for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, starting on April 4. She targetted the Indian Olympic Association, forcing the authority to sort out the issue since Singh had already arrived in Australia with the Indian contingent.
READ: Saina Nehwal Lashes Out After Dad’s Name Omitted From CWG List
The shuttler vented out her anger when her dad was denied entry at the athletes' village even though he was listed on the 'extra officials' list.
This dispute led to the IOA issuing a letter accepting him as an 'accredited extra official'. Since he still couldn’t be staying in the village, an even frustrated than ever Nehwal threatened to withdraw her name from the competition if she lacks her father's support during matches. She pressurized the committee to clear the accreditation soon.
The battle was over after the IOA confirmed in a tweet that the issue was resolved.
Amidst the conflict between authority and the player, another badminton star Jwala Gutta jumped in too and openly expressed her disappointment. She turned against Nehwal, and criticized her intention of going to social media to get her father an entry for the Commonwealth Games Village in Gold Coast, Australia.
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"I have nothing against her father staying in the village. But this is a personal demand. Going onto social media with such personal demands is something that I don't agree with," Gutta said to Sportskeeda.
Check out Saina's letter to the IOA:
"I don't shy away from giving the credit, or accepting the fact that she is one of the best shuttlers from our country," she said. "She (Nehwal) has done a lot already for Indian badminton. But since she has done a lot, we also expect some kind of decorum from her on social media, because a lot of people look up to her.
"The social media should be used for debate on social causes or different issues. I speak about issues on women, on doubles (badminton). I don't think I've ever made any personal demands on social media," Gutta continued.
"As athletes, we all want moral support from our families. When I used to go to the Games, we used to have day passes for my family to come and visit me inside the village," she said. "I used to plan this way in advance so that I could concentrate on my matches ahead of the tournaments."
Nehwal is counted as one of the country's top women's singles shuttlers at Gold Coast. The ace player is a gold medalist in the women's singles event in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
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Also read: Women’s cricket team to target No 1 spot by 2020: BCCI President
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