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What's the story?
The Indian Olympic Association has once again disallowed the Indian women athletes from wearing sarees during the 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony. Instead, both the male and the female athletes will be donning blazers and trousers as they walk out in front of the crowd.
In case you didn't know...
The 2018 Asian Games are right around the corner. For two weeks, the Indian athletes will compete with some of the best in the continent.
Jakarta and Palembang have been chosen as the hosts for the big-ticket multi-sport event. The Games will start on August 18 and run for the next two weeks, finally culminating on September 2.
India is expected to send a strong contingent and build upon the success of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The heart of the matter
IOA has once again caused controversy by banning sarees for the Asian Games opening ceremony. A similar decision was taken ahead of the Commonwealth Games as well, with IOA stating that the traditional garb causes major inconvenience to the female athletes.
Once again, the IOA's decision is bound to attract negative opinions as many people consider this a disrespect towards our culture.
However, if the testimonies of the female athletes are anything to go by, one would find that they themselves asked for this change of clothing. In fact, this decision was merely due to the fact that the athletes felt more comfortable in blazers and trousers.
What's next?
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games is set to take place at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta Indonesia.
Once again, there are expected to be a lot of conservative discussions over the decision to ditch a traditional garb for a more practical one.
Do you think the IOA made the right call in ditching sarees? Should there be any judgment over what an athlete decides to wear?
Do let us know in the comments below.
