'Blatant lie': IOA treasurer on PT Usha's non-felicitation of Paris medallists claim

NEW DELHI: A day after Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) president PT Usha alleged that the association's executive council (EC) members had failed to organise a felicitation function for the Paris Games medallists, the sports body's treasurer Sahdev Yadav said on Tuesday that her accusation was a "blatant lie". He said that there was neither any discussion nor a proposal in writing for organising such an event.
India won six medals, including a silver by javelin star Neeraj Chopra and two bronze by shooter Manu Bhaker, in Paris.
"We fail to understand why the IOA president is spreading lies... to put down the EC members. Her repeated efforts and proposals are nothing but blatant lies which have been cooked by the president every now and then and (she is) shedding crocodile tears in front of the media," Yadav said in a statement. "To put the situation in perspective, there has been no discussion with EC members nor any official proposal in writing for organising a felicitation ceremony for the medallists of Paris Olympics," he added.
Targeting the 12 EC members, Usha had said she felt profound disappointment at the "extreme insensitivity" shown by her colleagues in failing to celebrate the success of Paris Games medallists. She revealed that a proposal had been put forward to provide each Olympic-bound athlete with a preparatory grant of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh to each coach before their departure for Paris. However, Usha alleged, this grant was blocked by the finance committee and Yadav, who did not process the payments.
Reacting to this, Yadav said, "This is for the information of everyone that any proposal recommended and approved by the EC members and finance committee has been paid without any delay by IOA treasurer."