Hours before London Olympics, Team India breathing fire over shoddy kits
LONDON: With only a few hours to go for the 2012 London Olympics, India's strongest and largest contingent at any Games in history, is facing a very, well, Indian problem.
Instead of priming themselves to get in the 'zone' as their respective events draw near, a number of top medal hopefuls are struggling to make do with their competition uniforms, which they are describing as sub-standard and of extremely poor quality.
The kit has been supplied by Dida, whose claim to fame until they won the Olympics contract from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for Rs 50 lakh was supplying gear for the National Atya Patya Championship, National Floorball Championship, and the National Tug-of-War Championship.
Boxer Jai Bhagwan, one of the famous Bhiwani Boys and a medal hopeful in the 60-kg category at London, on Thursday lashed out at manufacturer, and by extension at the IOA.
"To be honest, this is the worst kit I have ever seen," Bhagwan told Mumbai Mirror. "It's of poor quality, it lacks durability, and some of it doesn't even fit right. Our kit in national competitions back home was of much better quality. When you are at the Olympics, you don't expect something as sub-standard as what we have been given. One feels more confident in the ring when one is wearing clothes without worrying about whether they will last the entire bout."
The mood is not very different in the hockey camp, sources close to the team said. On Wednesday evening, India's star drag-flicker Sandeep Singh was spotted at the Olympic village wearing shorts that were bursting at the seams.
Sandeep had decided to step out in his torn shorts as a mark of protest against the quality of kit provided to his team.
"Sandeep is facing more problems than the others because, as a drag-flicker, he has to bend awkwardly during penalty corners. He is worried that there may be an embarrassing accident," said a team source, who asked not to be named.
The archery team had a different kit problem last week. In their case, the sleeves of their shorts were so long, stretching right up to their fingers, that they were finding it difficult to grip their bows. When contacted on Thursday, Archery federation secretary Paresh Nath Mukherjee said that the problem has been sorted out.
An official from the manufacturing company Dida, Deepak Nagia, told Mumbai Mirror that the kit was fine; that it had to be since he is had been approved by the IOA.
"As far as the refitting for the archers is concerned, we had got wrong sizes from the IOA. That was not in our hands. The rest of the kits are all fine," he insisted.
Dida was one of three companies who had bid for the contract for India's Olympics uniforms. They had clinched the deal beating famous Chinese sports goods manufacturer Li Ning and India's other top sports goods company Shiv Naresh. Of the Rs 50 lakh sponsorship contract, Rs 15 lakh was to be spent on kits.
An IOA official told Mirror that Dida's was the best bid that they had received. "I don't see anything wrong with the quality of the kits," the official said. "What is all the fuss about?"
Hours before London Olympics, Team India breathing fire over shoddy kits - The Times of India
