Another multi-sport event, and yet another controversy seems to be brimming in the Rio Paralympic India camp, the country’s kit has not met the required official norms for opening ceremony participation. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have threatened to cut India from the opening ceremony, if the mentioned changes are not implemented immediately. Similar to Rio, the athletes have also complained that they didn’t receive the right size and might give the ceremony a skip.
According to a source in IPC, the country’s name is completely missing from back of the jersey. He told Sportskeeda, “According to IPC rules, every country must have their name written on the back, but we came to know yesterday that India has not done that. If the change is not implemented immediately, we have no option but to cut India from the opening ceremony. Apart from that there some discrepancies on the country’s flag. According to our record, India is Saffron, white and green, but in the blazer it’s Saffron, Navy blue and green, and in a dark background, it needs to be on a white backgroud, hence it doesn’t meet the requirements. They have officially till two hours before the event to get these changing into affect.”
This is the second time in the span of a month that a kit-related issue is threatening India’s participation. During the Rio Olympics, Indian boxers found themeselves in a spot of bother, after failing to field kits with India written in the back. However, some old jerseys were found and that particular problem was fixed. In this case, Indian officials are now attempting damage control by using coloured tape on the blazer.
An athlete from the Indian Paralympic contingent told Sportskeeda from Rio, “The officials collected all the track suits and blazers and have used white tape for the India flag and they are paying some printer an exorbidant price for printing by the morning. When I was packing for Rio I realised that this has a blue background and I immediately told my coach. He went and told the officials, but they said that they know better hence we didn’t bother. Now we realised that his has become a major problem.”
He added, “The one I got doesn’t even fit me, so I was wondering how I would attend it any way. We would like to see the Opening Ceremony, but at the end of the day it doesn’t happen, it doesn't happen. We are our event, and not sight seeing anyways, goal is a medal and that will stay till we actually win it, whether there is an opening ceremony or not.”
