Their dream to represent India at the Women’s Junior (U-20) Handball World Championships is close to realisation. But the 12 members of the Sachin Chaudhary-coached team — set to take part in the event in Jinzhong, China, from June 24 to July 5 — had to pay a big price for their dream.
Instead of preparing for the biggest competition of their young careers, the team members were asked by their respective state associations to deposit a sum of Rs 3 lakh for the boarding and lodging expenses. The reasons are official apathy and infighting within the federation that resulted in derecognition of the Handball Association of India (HAI). It led to zero funding from the sports ministry for the tournament.
Kanpur’s Soumya Srivastava’s father is undergoing liver dialysis twice a week. Her brother took a loan from family and friends to fund her India dreams.
“We had to take a loan. It is a difficult time for all of us but what can anyone do when the government does not recognise our federation,” Soumya told The Tribune on Monday.
Sitting next to her was Kanishka from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. Her father is a state forest guard. “We had to borrow as well. Those who could deposit the money are going to China. There are many who could not come up with that amount and could not join us for the tournament,” Kanishka said.
Captain Riddhima, also from Bilaspur, said that their preparations were not up to the standards needed for the competition.
“We just had an outdoor training camp for a week at DAV School, Sector 8, in Chandigarh. The tournament will be played indoors. We did whatever little the team and coaches could do, like developing combination plays. We want to give our best shot,” said Riddhima, whose father runs a medical shop.
HAI executive director Anandeswar Pandey said that they were forced to seek funds as they do not have the money to support the expenses. “The same Sports Authority of India funded a month-long training camp and supported the same set of players for the qualifying tournament. Now that they have qualified, SAI has not released any funds,” he said.
He also questioned the ministry and Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) stance of not recognising HAI as the only body recognised by the International Handball Federation (IHF).
“The IHF president has twice written to the IOA that HAI is the only recognised body from India. In fact, the IOA was reminded of the IOC charter that states that the national Olympics committee has to recognise the federation that has the affiliation of the international federation. Even then they are sitting on the matter,” he said.
