HC slams IOA over karate missing date

NEW DELHI: Despite repeated reminders from the Asian Games authorities, India has failed to send names of its karate participants in time.
The Delhi High Court on Monday took serious exception of this and ordered an inquiry into this lapse by Indian Olympic Association, asking the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to conduct a thorough probe and fix accountability.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru acted on a petition filed by Karate Association of India (KAI) which protested at the 'shabby treatment' meted out to its players and the discipline going unrepresented by India at the Incheon Games.The HC said the ministry must find out why names of karate players were sent belatedly.
Appearing for KAI, advocate Ashutosh Lohia informed the court that probables selected by KAI were the best in India who have extensive international exposure. Many of them have represented India at various international events including the 2010 Asian Games and have won medals for the country. Their chance of winning medals in Incheon were bleak because the deadline for sending names to Asian Games had expired, he added.
KAI informed that it had sent a list of probables as early as February this year to the IOA to be forwarded to the Games authorities. "However, because of the IOA, India's participation in karate has been put in jeopardy," it said in the petition.
Taking note of the situation, the HC directed IOA, Centre and KAI to hold fresh trials on or before 12th September. It said that the names of probables would then be forwarded to Games officials who will then decide whether to accept the names or not despite expiry of deadline.