Commonwealth Games 2018: IOA arranges accreditation for Saina Nehwal’s father after her threat to not compete

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) cleared Saina Nehwal's father Harvir Singh's entry to the CWG village on Tuesday after the shuttler took to Twitter to complain.

Saina Nehwal lashed out at the authorities on Twitter for not allowing her father inside the Games village

A day after shuttler Saina Nehwal lashed out at the authorities for cancelling her father’s accredtion for the Commonwealth Games, the Indian Olympic Association on Tuesday sorted out the issue. “It’s our duty to help the sportspersons. They should focus on winning medals. Yes, Saina had written to a senior official. But we don’t want to make an issue out of it. As it is, we have solved her problem. We wouldn’t like to comment on the tone and tenor of the letter,” a senior IOA official said.

Thanking IOA in a Twitter post, the shuttler said, “Thank u so much @ioaindia for the support and help sorting out my father’s accreditation card in such short notice ..Hopefully it will b great for the matches ahead ..and I m sorry for all the trouble. #CommonwealthGames2018”

Thank u so much @ioaindia for the support and help sorting out my father’s accreditation card in such short notice ..Hopefully it will b great for the matches ahead ..and I m sorry for all the trouble ????#CommonwealthGames2018 pic.twitter.com/fWCvrLk4YV

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) 3 April 2018

On Monday, Saina had claimed that her father Harvir’s name had been cut from the team official category. The Sports Ministry had stated that parents of Saina and PV Sindhu will be travelling at no costs to the government and were cleared to be part of the Indian contingent. But Saina said that her father’s name was cut from the official category and he can’t stay with her, enter the Commonwealth Games Village in Gold Coast or watch her matches.

The 28-year-old shuttler had expressed anger over exclusion of her father’s name from team’s official category in a series of tweet. She also reportedly threatened to pull out of the competition if her dad remains restricted to enter the Games Village. Saina tagged the Commonwealth Games Federation in her tweets and stated that her father’s support is important to her and she relies on him during other matches.

Surprise to see that when we started from India for commonwealth games 2018 my father was confirmed as the team official and I paid the whole amount for that but when we came to the games village … his name was cut from team official category .. and he can’t even stay with me .

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) 2 April 2018

He can’t c my matches and he can’t enter the village nor he can meet me in anyway .. what kind of support is this ..@thecgf

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) 2 April 2018

I wanted his support as I regularly take him for my competitions …but i didn’t understand why nobody informed me all this earlier .. that he can’t enter anywhere #CommonwealthGames2018

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) 2 April 2018

The Sports Ministry faced flak for its decision to not allow a number of coaches and family members of the athletes to travel to Gold Coast. Saina’s father Harvir Singh and PV Sindhu’s mother Vijaya are among the 15 individuals who, despite being cleared to be part of the Indian contingent, are not funded by the government for their travel, stay and other expenses.