Video: Junior girls' hockey team from India left in tears after being stranded in Australia

What's the story?

A junior women's hockey team representing India was left to get embarrassed as they missed their games due to sheer negligence on part of the authorities who failed to provide any facilities in Canberra, where the tournament was being held.

In a video that went viral on Twitter, members of the team explain how due to the lack of transport facilities, which are generally taken care of by the authorities, who send the teams to the foreign tournaments, they always reached the grounds late for their matches.

Kind attention @SushmaSwaraj Ji, @HCICanberra @AusHCIndia, @Ra_thore Ji - these girls went to Australia as our nation’s representative to play Hockey. They need our support to bring home medals and glory. Please listen to the video and take quick action for real #ChakDeIndia pic.twitter.com/4ACjFw7R5O

— Manjinder S Sirsa (@mssirsa) December 4, 2017

In case you didn't know

On the second day (the day this video was shot), no commuting facility was available for the players and they were told right before the start of the tournament that they need to travel from their hotel to the match venue via metro, which they could not.

The team also claimed that the per-head cost of each player was $2.5-3 lakh. No food had been arranged for them nor any vehicle for commuting to the match site on all the days of their stay in Australia.

The heart of the matter

According to SAI Media, No sanction of the tournament has been accorded to the team or the coach and Hockey India also had no knowledge about this tournament. A taxi driver of Indian origin took the video of the junior team in Canberra and posted it on social media.

No Govt. Of #India sanction/approval for travel has been accorded to the team and coach featured in the video circulating on social media. Neither has @TheHockeyIndia approved or sanctioned the tour. 1/2 @Ra_THORe @SushmaSwaraj @HCICanberra @AusHCIndia

— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) December 4, 2017

However, the claims made by the Hockey Federation and Sports Authority of India shows the other side of the coin, where they that they did not sanction the participation in the tournament, and had no idea about this issue.

What's next?

Taking note of the incident which has brought shame to the country and Hockey as well, Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has ordered an investigation into the incident and serious action against whoever is proven guilty of neglecting these athletes.

Taking serious note of this, Hon. Sports Minister Col @Ra_THORe has ordered investigation and action into this matter, which has caused inconvenience and embarrassment to the girls and has brought disrepute to the nation. 2/2 @TheHockeyIndia @SushmaSwaraj @HCICanberra @AusHCIndia

— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) December 4, 2017

Author's take

The whole country is trying to raise the bar of sports facilities, especially in case of the female athletes and this incident if proven true, shall be one of the most shameful ones as very young girls who in their minds just wanted to win on the field, were left stranded in a distant land.