Even before the Commonwealth Games have started in Manchester, the Indian contingent has got off to a false start. Thanks to an official goof-up, promising flyweight boxer Dalbir Singh has been barred entry to the Games village, where the athletes and support staff live. And, because he can’t speak English, national coach G S Sandhu is keeping him company, while the rest of the contingent is inside.Dalbir — who has two international golds to his name — was included, with six others, by the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) in the boxing contingent that left for Manchester on Sunday. While the names of the others were cleared by the Sports Ministry, Dalbir’s had not. Reason: Dalbir, 20, on the reserves’ list, had been included as a last-minute replacement for Srinivas Rao, who pulled out after a death in the family. But the IABF neglected to inform the Indian Olympic Association, through which requests reach the ministry, and instead got Dalbir to Manchester after changing the ticket.However, when the Indian contingent reached Manchester yesterday and was checking into the Village, the organisers refused entry to the boxer as he was not among the registered participants.Chef-de-mission Mool Chand Chowhan was asked to intervene but said he had no idea how Dalbir was part of the team as his name hadn’t been cleared by the ministry.Coach Sandhu then made frantic calls from Manchester to federation officials here, who got in touch with the ministry. ‘‘We can’t just clear names like that. There’s a procedure involved. If a particular player cleared by us is not able to make it for some reason, how can they substitute him with another name?’’asked a ministry official.Incidentally, the ministry had a couple of days back refused to replace injured wrestler Shokinder Tomar because the stand-in was not a medal prospect. And the Judo Federation of India didn’t even bother seeking a replacement for Landhoni Devi, who failed to pass a fitness test.IABF working president R S Dalal, though unable to explain why neither the IOA nor the ministry had been informed before the team left, told The Indian Express the federation had subsequently made a request to the ministry in Delhi and was now in touch with IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh, already in London, and was optimistic of a quick solution. The best chance of that will probably be in Manchester itself, where all the sports heavyweights — from the sports ministry,including minister Uma Bharati, and from the IOA — have gathered. So far, though, there’s been no action: Dalbir and Sandhu are both outside the village and Games begin on Thursday.
