Athlete Anil Kumar cries foul

Athlete Anil Kumar cries foul
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JULY 4: Anil kumar, who won the silver medal in discus throw at the Bangkok Asian Games, has accused a few Sports Authority of India officials of ``ganging up'' against him to deprive him of the Arjuna award.

Stating at a press meet here on Monday that he was the ``most deserving candidate'' for the award, Kumar said he was being victimised for his role in the formation of Sportsmen Union of India.

He said that his harrassment by the officials began when he formed the Union with Dhanraj Pillay, Dingko Singh, Jaspal Rana and others at the last National Games in Manipur.

``The harrassment became so acute that I was forced to keep the Union's profile low and dissociate myself from it,'' Kumar, who has been a National champion for the past four years, said.

Kumar, who claims that his throw of 58.43 metres at Bangkok was the best performance by an Indian outside the country, said he had been forwarding his name for the award for the past two years and he was dejected when he found his name missing from the list of this year's awardees.

``The award has lost all meaning for me,'' he said adding that the entire episode had affected his preparation for the Olympics.

``I have lost three kgs in the past two days but I am still confident of making it to the Olympics and be among the medals,'' Anil Kumar said.

He said his performance over the years would have qualified him for the award.

``I hold the record in Federation Games, inter-state games and open Nationals, besides a silver in Asian Games and 13 other medals in international meets,'' he said.

``Players with lower levels of performance have been selected for the Arjuna Awards while my claim has been brushed aside,'' he said.

Kumar, who now flies to Bangalore for the Olympic trials, said if selected for the award in future, he would think ``a 100 times'' before accepting it.