Accreditation in IOA’s hands: BFI reacts after Lovlina Borgohain alleges coach denied entry into CWG Village

Hours after Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain alleged that her coach had been denied entry into the Commonwealth Games Village, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Monday said that the accreditation process is in the hands of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The BFI added that it is hopeful the issue will be sorted soon.

Lovlina in a social media post shared the details of the alleged mistreatment that she has been subjected to, saying that one of her coaches (Sandhya Gurungji) has been denied entry to the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Village while another one has been sent home. Lovlina also alleged mental harassment by the authorities ahead of the CWG in Birmingham.

“The IOA and BFI are working to get Sandhya’s accreditation continuously. It is in IOA’s hand but it will come by today or tomorrow,” BFI secretary Hemanta Kalita told PTI.

“We had given all names beforehand but there is a quota system. Based on the number of athletes who have qualified there is 25 per cent quota. So we had four officials, which includes coach, doctor etc.

“We had requested the IOA and they have increased the quota to eight. Four will stay inside the village and four have to stay outside, they can enter the village, and spend the day but at night they have to go back out,” Kalita added.

Lovlina also said that her training had been impacted with just eight days ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

“Today with great sorrow I want to reveal that harassment is going on with me. The coaches who helped me win the Olympic medal were removed which hindered my training process. One of the coaches is Sandhya Gurungji, who is a Dronacharya awardee. Both of my coaches have to plead to be included in the training camp and they are added quite late,” Lovlina said in a tweet.

“My second coach has been sent back to India. In spite of requesting so much I had to face mental harassment. I don’t understand how should I focus on the Games as due to this my last World Championships was also spoiled. But I don’t want to spoil my CWG because of this politics. I hope I can break this politics for my country and bring a medal as well.”

Lovlina won a bronze medal in the Welterweight category in the Tokyo Olympics. She then suffered a setback as she was ousted in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Championships in Istanbul.

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