HS Prannoy has landed himself in trouble after Badminton Association of India (BAI) show-caused his comments against the federation.
On the other hand, Srikanth Kidambi has been nominated for India’s prestigious Khel Ratna award for 2020.
Prannoy and Srikanth were part of the men’s team of the Badminton Asia Team Championships, Manila in February earlier this year.
Both the players opted not to play the crucial semi-final tie against Indonesia and chose to fly to Barcelona for the Spain Masters which was scheduled to start after 3 days. India lost the tie 3-2 to Indonesia.
Based on reports from The Hindu, BAI forwarded Srikanth’s name for the Khel Ratna award to the Ministry of Sports only after he formally apologised, through an email, for his actions in Manila.
BAI also clarified that they had not recommended Prannoy’s name for the Arjuna Award (another sports achievement award) earlier this month because of the same choice of action as Srikanth. But Prannoy, unlike Srikanth, has never given a formal apology.
Khel Ratna is the highest award presented to a citizen of India for achievements in sports. Generally, the overall achievement of the sportsperson in the last 4 years is considered for the award. So far, only Pullela Gopichand (2001), Saina Nehwal (2010) and PV Sindhu (2016) have been given this award. Arjuna Award is a national sports award which is lesser than the Khel Ratna.
In a since-deleted tweet, Prannoy had written, “#arjunaawards Same old story. Guy who has Medals in Cwg and Asian Championships not even recommended by Association. And guy who was not there on any of these major events recommended, #waah #thiscountryisajoke,”
Prannoy had also lashed out against BAI last year over the same award and even went as far as alleging the federation of playing favouritism.
BAI has now taken on the offence and demanded an explanation for Prannoy’s public outburst. He has reportedly been given 15 days to respond to the same.
Ajay Singhania, Secretary-General of BAI said, “There are several disciplinary issues regarding Prannoy. The association has been very tolerant but because of its recent attitude, BAI must take action and rethink disciplinary rules.
“A warning letter has been made for this. If the player cannot respond at the specified time, BAI will take decisive action.”
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