He had to choose between arranging a personal loan of Sri Lankan Rs 1 lakh (about Rs 48,000) to fund his travel with his wards to the Asian Cadet Wrestling Championship being held here, or, sit back at home and follow the results through internet.
It is the same story for each and every member of Sri Lanka's 13-member contingent. Everyone was asked to arrange for their own flight tickets after their government refused to bear the expenses involved in travelling to New Delhi.
Sri Lanka's National Olympic Committee offered to pitch in with a meagre sum of 12,000 Sri Lankan rupees (about Rs 5,750) for the entire squad. This only added to the woes of young grapplers, who were determined to make Sri Lanka proud in the tournament, which began at the K D Jadhav wrestling arena here on Thursday.
The Wrestling Federation of Sri Lanka has been grappling with a severe fund crunch in the absence of proper support from the government and the National Olympic Committee.
The championship holds greater significance in wrestling calendar as it will double up as the selection trial for the World Cadet Championship, scheduled to be held in Bosnia from August 25 to 30.
At this point, the Wrestling Federation of Sri Lanka (WFSL) requested their Indian counterparts to waive off the entry fee and hotel cost to help team participate in the competition.
All their cries fell on deaf ears as the host federation, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), refused to waive off the entry fee and boarding and lodging expenses, which amounts to 130 Swiss Francs (about Rs 9,000) per member per day.
WFI, however, made some concession by charging the Sri Lankan wrestlers only 100 Swiss Francs (about Rs 6,900) per day.
"Only we know how difficult it was for us to come here (Delhi). The team and the coaching staff are paying from their own pockets due to little or no support from the government back home," Sri Lankan referee WS Boteju told dna.
WFSL also wrote to the Asian body to help them monetarily as they did not want to miss out on this important tournament. The body only granted WFSL $2,000 (Rs1,29,000) which is hardly insufficient.
Boteju added that in the absence of any proper help, the wrestlers then had to request their parents to contribute financially to arrange for their flight tickets.
The case of four support staff members is even more poignant. All of them were forced to bear the entire cost of the tournament from their own pocket.
"We are paying everything from our own pocket, no help from any quarter," said a coach on the condition of anonymity.
(dnaindia.com)
