NEWS
STATISTICS
INTERVIEWS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

Malleshwari condemns political interference in sports

Karnam Malleshwari, the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal, said on Sunday that there was too much political interference in the country's sports arena.

She was speaking to reporters in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana, after receiving a warm welcome from the people of her in-laws' town.

"There is too much political interference in the selection procedure of players, which is not up to the mark," she said.

She also criticised the media, particularly an English-language weekly, for not supporting and encouraging her in the difficult times when her name was being considered for the Indian squad for the Sydney Games.

Recipient of the Arjuna Award in 1995 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1996, Malleshwari criticised the media for giving "undue importance" to cricket as compared to other sports events where "our athletes could do well".

She, however, congratulated the Haryana government for encouraging sports. The Om Prakash Chautala government has rewarded Malleshwari with Rs 2.5 million for winning the bronze medal in the weightlifting event at Sydney.

The Andhra Pradesh-born sportswoman said she would talk to Chief Minister Chautala about a piece of land and adequate funds for setting up a sports academy in the state.

She said that after a lot of criticism from the media, winning a medal at the Olympics was the only option left for her to prove her credentials.

She said young athletes should boldly face any kind of hostility and humiliation at any platform if they wanted to excel at sports.

UNI