 "A big number of Indian athletes were denied participation at the ongoing World University Games due to alleged administrative mistakes. Images: Alina Khan/Devyaniba Zala/Instagram")
A massive controversy has broken out in Indian sports as at least eight athletes were barred from the ongoing World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, due to alleged administrative lapses. Six out of eight athletes were part of the Indian badminton squad that won the mixed team bronze medal at the ongoing Games. The other two athletes are sprinters Devyaniba Zala and Seema.
The affected players have taken to social media to highlight the alleged administrative mess and their plight. “This is not just mismanagement – it’s career sabotage,” one of the athletes, who missed out on the World University Games, wrote on Instagram.
Six Indian shuttlers miss out on World University Games medal
A badminton team of 12 players was sent to Germany for the event, but six were not allowed to participate as officials did not submit all the names correctly during the managers’ meeting on 16 July. As per a report in news agency PTI, the managers’ meeting was attended by Association of Indian Universities (AIU) officials BV Rao and Ajit Mohan.
The six badminton players who missed out on the World University Games medal are Rohan Kumar, Darshan Pujari, Aditi Bhatt, Abhinash Mohanty, Viraj Kuvale and Alisha Khan.
“We demand answers, accountability, and that our voices be heard. We didn’t lose a match — we lost our right to even participate,” Alisha Khan wrote on Instagram. “This isn’t just a mistake. It’s career sabotage by AIU and our team officials. We demand justice.”
Sprinters Devyaniba, Seema suffer same fate
The 400m sprinter Devyaniba Zala has said that her name was missing from the start list at the World University Games despite being part of the official entry list.
The 23-year-old athlete from Saurashtra Devyaniba also claimed on Instagram that she had paid Rs 2.5 lakhs to participate in the event and shared proof of her name being part of the official list.
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More Shorts“A fee of 2.50 lakhs to represent my country, and I miss out on getting an entry at the final moment,” Devyaniba captioned her social media post.
She also shared the picture of a final confirmation list that included a pen stroke that crossed out another athlete’s name to make room for hers.
“I have been preparing for this event for over a year and was in good shape to clock a PB and make it to the 400m final and do something special. But when the start list for Day 1 came out last evening, my name in the entry went missing from the 400m women’s list,” Devyaniba said in an Instagram post.
“The official of the team tells me that the date and time for submission are over, and we are trying. But when it is a global competition, how can a world committee accept an entry which is scribbled and written with a pen?” Devyaniba asked.
“It might be very casual for the officials, but not to me, being an athlete who has missed the entry this way at the global competition,” Devyaniba added.
In another similar incident, the Times of India has claimed that Seema, who was to take part in the women’s 10,000m final, did not find her name in the start list.
“It appears that while reconfirming the participation of the athletes to the organisers, through the electronic data sheet, the athletics official at the venue clicked the wrong box. There were two boxes — participating and not participating — and the official could have ticked the wrong box,” sources told TOI.
Speaking to TOI, Seema confirmed that she was not the only Indian sprinter to miss out on the race. “It’s a matter of shame that our athletes’ names are not there. Athletes from Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in the start list. Three of us were to compete in the 10,000m — Anjali Devi, Nirmala and me — but our names were missing from the start list,” Seema told TOI.
AIU launches investigation after University Games controversy
Meanwhile, PTI has reported that the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has launched an investigation into the matter. “We have been informed about this and the matter is being investigated,” AIU Secretary Dr Pankaj Mittal told PTI.
As per a source, the administrative lapses with the badminton team began from the selection trials held at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar
“During the managers’ meeting, officials were given a letter listing all 12 players from India. It was their responsibility to read it carefully, check for missing or injured players, and confirm or adjust the names accordingly. However, they took it lightly,” the source said.
“The names of players who hadn’t attended trials were there. They came here only to enjoy. In the meeting, they also made a basic mistake. They were supposed to declare which player would play singles, doubles, and mixed, but didn’t process it properly.” Saneeth Dayanand, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, Devika Sihag, Tasnim Mir, Varshini Viswanath Sri, and Vaishnavi Khadkekar were the six who competed in the mixed team event.