Miffed BAI gags players

[1]

“The BAI doesn’t ask for bouquets but brickbats are a little bit too much,” read a Badminton Association of India letter marked to players and officials of the Indian Badminton League on Monday. It was a gag order, no doubt aimed at containing the discontent that has been caused by the players auction.
While it undoubtedly holds much promise in the way of promoting the sport like never before, the most noticeable thing about the IBL thus far has been the controversy surrounding the auction.
Reeling from heavy criticism from the likes of icon players Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa and the men’s doubles pair Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas, BAI and the IBL organisers have resorted to warning the players against speaking to the media.

***
Paralympian Girisha Still Awaits Job In Sai
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, July 31

London Paralympics silver medallist H.N. Girisha on Wednesday accused the sport ministry of not keeping its promise of giving him a “Class-1 executive officer” job with the Sports Authority of India after his achievement at the Paralympic Games in the UK last year.
“Before the Olympics, the sports ministry announced that whoever will win a medal in London, would be given a Class-1 executive officer’s job in SAI. But I still haven’t got a job,” Girisha was quoted as saying.
Girisha also claimed that during the Padma Shri award ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in January this year, he had met with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who promised to look into the matter.
He blamed the sports ministry for discriminating against the paralympians.
Meanwhile, Devendra Jhajharia, the first Indian paralympian to win a gold at the recently-concluded IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, also feels the future of para-athletes is bleak in India as the government does not have any specific policy for the para-sports in the country.
“There is discrimination between able-bodied and para-athletes in our country. This should be wiped out. We too have won medals and brought laurels to the country,” Jhajharia said.