Bhubaneswar: International athlete Dutee Chand landed in the eye of the storm on Friday evening following a couple of posts on social media in which alleged apathy of the State Government towards athletics.
In a social media post, Chand abused the Odisha Government for ‘not supporting sports and athletics other than hockey’. “You keep on dancing with Hockey India team, let the Sports Department go to the dogs,” she said.
The former ace sprinter continued: “Crores of rupees for Hockey India team but nothing for athletics. How long will the Hockey stick last, it will crack with time. All this is a farce.” The post was deleted few minutes after it was shared on social media.
Expressing strong dissent to Chand’s comments, hockey legend Dilip Tirkey said, “As a sports person I strongly condemn this kind of statement from another sportsman who herself belongs to Odisha. The State Government has always given importance to all sports be it Hockey or be it athletics.”
The three-time Olympian Tirkey added, “Bagging medal in Olympic is not everyone’s cup of tea. Why Bhubaneswar (Odisha) is known as the sports capital of India that everyone knows very well.”
This was in response to another comment made by Chand where she belittled the efforts of Odia sportspersons who are trained by the joint efforts of Sports and Youth Services Department and a foundation run by a private foundation.
“Spending lakhs for getting a medal in local meets, but unable to produce one International sportsperson,” Chand mentioned in the comment which cannot be shared in this article completely because of the slang used.
Tirkey, the Chairman of Odisha Hockey Promotion Council further said, “And if people realy don’t know then they should know that Hockey is the game which has given recognition to India in International level. This comment is unparliamentary and discouraging for the fellow athletes. And lastly being a player one should learn to give respect to other players.”
It may be recalled that the Odisha Government had nominated Dutee Chand for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sporting honour in 2021. Back then, thanking the State Government Chand had said, “I’m thankful to Odisha Chief Minister for nominating my name for the Khel Ratna Award. May your blessing always be upon me.”
The 26-year-old Chand won a silver each in the 100m and 200m events in the 2018 Asian Games, was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2020. Social media users were startled by the unparliamentary language used by the athlete and condemned the comments.
In an official statement in July 2020, the Sports and Youth Services Department revealed that Odisha Government has spent Rs 4.09 crore to support Dutee Chand.
“The total financial support provided to Dutee Chand from State government/OMC is Rs 4.09 crore (after 2015),” a statement from the Department of Sports and Youth Services, statement read.
“Rs 3 crore as financial incentive for medals won at Asian Games 2018; Rs 30 lakh for training and financial support during 2015-19; Rs 50 lakh for training support for Tokyo Olympics released in two instalments,” the statement added.
It may be noted that the Odisha government had appointed Dutee Chand as a Group-A level officer in Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and in November 2020, the CM awarded her an ‘Out-of-turn promotion’ in the PSU in recognition of her sporting achievements.
After being slammed on social media for these posts, Chand came up with a clarification. In another post on social media, she stated:
“I am extremely disappointed for the way some people are misleading my opinion that I am blaming Govt. Of Odisha. As a state Odisha is no 1 in promoting sports in the country. I always thank Naveen Patnaik Sir for his contribution to sports. My appeal is the planners should plan something so that common sportspersons from Odisha should take advantage of the investment made by Govt. Of Odisha.”
