Over 300 athletes fail to furnish bills of ₹8cr; SAI to act

Over 300 elite athletes, including Olympic medallists, failed to furnish their travel bills to the tune of ₹8cr in the Paris Olympics cycle, irking the sports ministry and SAI.

- Shantanu Srivastava

NEW DELHI: The matter came to light following SAI's financial audit and came up for discussion on Wednesday in Mission Olympics Cell's meeting.

A number of MOC members, it has been learned, proposed penal action against defaulters, including deductions from athletes' Out of Pocket Allowance — which is ₹50,000 per month — and cash rewards given by the government.

A total of 315 athletes are yet to submit their expenses amounting to ₹8,78,27,962. According to the presentation at the MOC meeting, prominent athletes yet to submit bills include weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, badminton ace Saina Nehwal, and sprinter Hima Das.