Commonwealth Games 2018: Saina Nehwal's father denied entry in athletes' village, not allowed to watch matches

The confusion regarding the eligibility of coaches and team officials accompanying the Indian athletes to Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast has resurfaced, with badminton ace Saina Nehwal’s father Harvir Singh being barred from the Games village. The former World No 1 took to Twitter to break the development. [caption id=“attachment_4415565” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Saina missed the 2014 edition of Commonwealth Games to injury. Twitter[/caption] “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 ,” she tweeted.

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) April 2, 2018

The 28-year-old followed it with two more tweets, expressing anguish over the confusion regarding her father’s eligibility to accompany her.

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) April 2, 2018

More from Sports

Nihal Sarin's surprise lead at FIDE Grand Swiss: The dark horse among the young Indian chess stars Manchester United continue facing uncertainty over Fernandes despite midfielder's commitment to Old Trafford

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) April 2, 2018

The issue of team officials and family members accompanying the athletes has been a major bone of contention in the lead-up to the Games, with reports claiming an initial long-list of 222 athletes and 106 team officials. Ultimately, 2018 athletes boarded the flight to Gold Coast. Last month, reports emerged of Sports Ministry reviewing the names of 106 officials, including 57 coaches, 19 managers and 41 others, sent by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for the Gold Coast event. “Why should family members of the athlete, no matter how big star the player is, will go on government expenses as mentor or manager. If they want them, they can take on their own expenses and I am sure they can afford this,” a Sports Ministry official had said. Earlier, IOA president Narinder Batra had said that parents of shuttlers PV Sindhu and Nehwal should be allowed to accompany them. Reacting to reports of Sports Ministry dithering over clearing the names of Sindhu’s mother and Saina’s father, Batra had said, " I don’t know why the sports ministry is not agreeing to clear the parents of Sindhu and Saina to accompany them at the CWG. The government is not going to bear their expenses." Saina’s father Harvir had then clarified that he had never taken any undue advantage of his position and all his expenses were borne by the shuttler. “I’m going on my own. I know a professor at Gold Coast. So I will go to watch the Games as a spectator and I am not part of the contingent. Even when I went to Rio Games, I stayed in rented accommodation. So, I don’t know from where these reports are coming. It is unfortunate,” Harvir had said. The recent incident is in addition to the brewing controversy of syringes being found outside Indian contingent’s accommodation in the Games Village. Earlier in the day, national boxing coach Santiago Nieva clarified that one of his unwell boxers was injected vitamins. “I’m confident that our boxers haven’t taken anything,” Nieva said, two days ahead of the opening ceremony. “We had one boxer who wasn’t feeling well and the doctor has given him an injection,” the coach said, contradicting India team manager Ajay Narang’s comments, who on Saturday told AFP that the needles were nothing to do with them and were found inside a water bottle on a path outside their accommodation.