Guwahati: Amid allegations by Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain about her coaches being denied entry into the Commonwealth Games village in Birmingham, Lakhya Konwar, General Secretary of Assam Olympic Association on Monday said that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is looking into the matter seriously and hopes it will be resolved soon.
This comes after Lovlina Borgohain on Monday accused authorities of mental harassment, alleging that one of her coaches has been refused entry to the Commonwealth Games village in Birmingham while the other one has been sent back to India.
“Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is also looking after this matter. Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs is taking up this issue with the Commonwealth Federation too, so I hope this issue will be sorted out soon,” said Lakhya Konwar, General Secretary of Assam Olympic Association told ANI.
“We just learnt that Lovlina Borgohain has tweeted regarding her coach not being added to the national boxing team of Commonwealth Games. Regarding this, I have spoken to the Secretary General of the Boxing Federation of India. He told me that his (coach) name was never there on the list. So there are certain protocols that…. the total capacity of the team only 33 per cent can be allowed for support staff and coaches as we all know,” Konwar added.
“But this time Indian Olympic is giving more strength to the Indian boxing team as it has more potential. So it is very unfortunate that… there must be some misunderstanding,” he added.
“And what I have learned from the Boxing Federation of India is that the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is taking up the issue and Commonwealth Federation too. So I hope there will be a solution because at this time Lovlina’s bout is very near in CWG this matter should be sorted out soon so she can win a medal,” Konwar added.
Lovlina took to social media to share details of the alleged injustice, saying it has heavily impacted her training for the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Lovlina will be representing India in the 70kg category at the Commonwealth Games 2022, which will start from July 28 onwards.
In a tweet, she shared a note saying, “Today with great sorrow I want to confess that I am facing a lot of harassment. The coaches who helped me secure a medal in the Olympics are being removed, again and again, affecting my training and competition preparation. One of the coaches is Sandhya Gurungji and she is a Dronacharya awardee. Both of my coaches have to plead to be included in the training camp and they are added quite late.”
“This has caused me a lot of problems in my training and this causes mental harassment as well. Right now, my coach Sandhya Gurungji is not getting entry into the Commonwealth Village and she is outside. Due to this, my training has stopped eight days ahead of the competition. My second coach has also been sent back to India.”
Lovlina said that this is happening to her despite a lot of requests she has made to stop this and it has caused her a lot of mental harassment.
“I do not know how to focus on the Games in this situation. Due to this, my last world championships were also ruined. But I do not want to ruin my CWG campaign because of this politics. I hope that I can break this politics and win a medal for my country,” she concluded.
Last year at Tokyo Olympics 2020, Lovlina had won a bronze medal in the women’s welterweight category (64-69 kg).
The Birmingham Commonwealth Games will begin on July 28 and will conclude on August 8.
