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What's the Story?
Indian athletes who are preparing for the upcoming Commonwealth and Asian games, scheduled to be held in 2018, are being denied food supplements.The reason for this are the ongoing troubles between the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) over the release of money for the food supplements.
In case you didn't know...
According to the rules, the amount fixed for a sprinter, a middle distance and a long distance runner is Rs 400 a day while a throw athlete is assigned Rs 700 a day.
Heart of the Matter
The SAI has blamed the AFI for not settling previous payments worth Rs 10-15 lakh. These payments, according to the SAI, were kept aside for the food supplements for the athletes, while the AFI claims to have received no information regarding any such payments.
The AFI, however, was quick to respond to the comments made by SAI, saying that it has not received funding for months.
"Which money is SAI talking about? We have been waiting for the money for months. Also, the national camp started only in September, so how come athletes can say that they haven't been getting the food supplements since April," AFI president Adille Sumariwala said to The Times of India.
What's Next
It remains to be seen if both the organisations can reconcile their differences and come together to help the athletes prepare for the upcoming games.
Author's take
Nutrition is one of the most crucial aspects of an athlete's preparation. For an athlete to underperform at the biggest stages all due to lack of proper nutrition reflects a sorry state of affairs on behalf of the organisations involved. It is high time they come together and resolve the issues once and for all, for our athletes, who work hard day and night, surely deserve better.
