Big drama at Asian Games send-off, where para-shooters accuse of corruption, protest tender

High drama unfolded on Thursday at the Indian contingent’s elimination ceremony for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, where several para-shooters protested outside the venue, alleging corruption and manipulation in the selection process.The protesters met senior officials of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), including president Devendra Jhajharia, who tried to convince them to call off the demonstration, news agency PTI reported. However, the shooters continued their protest and raised slogans before explaining their grievances.The PCI rejected the allegations, saying the team for the Aichi-Nagoya Para-Asian Games, scheduled to be held from October 18 to 24, was selected transparently, entirely on merit and according to prescribed criteria.Among those leading the protest were para-shooters Sandeep Kumar and Akash, who contested their exclusion from the contingent despite their placement and performances.Sandeep is ranked third in Asia while Akash is the top scorer in the continent. They also questioned the inclusion of Rudransh Khandelwal, who they say is ranked 14th in Asia.The protest later moved to the veranda of the venue where the ceremony was to take place. India head coach Satyanarayana and Jhajharia spoke to the athletes and asked them to end the protest, but the shooters remained firm.Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya attended the ceremony while the protest was still going on.Akash claimed that his credentials were disregarded as he did not appoint shooting coach Jai Prakash Nautiyal as his coach.“That’s why he cut my name. I have been here for two months. He keeps saying we are doing your work. Every day he says we are doing your work but he is not doing anything,” Akash claimed.Sandeep, a P4 50m SH1 free pistol shooter, said he did not get any assurance from Jhajharia even after he showed documents supporting his case.When asked what Jhajharia told him, Sandeep said, “Nothing.”“We have shown the papers to Jhajharia ji and other PCI officials. Rahul Swami, Vivek Saini who is a para-shooter and has not played a single shooting match has become an expert. He is misleading people,” alleged Sandeep as quoted by PTI.He also leveled allegations against Nautiyal, alleging that the coach demanded a 20 percent commission from the government’s prize money in return for helping athletes secure selection.Sandeep also questioned why the sportspersons were asked to end their protest at the last moment and said they had been raising their concerns for several days.“They said today is the elimination ceremony from the Asian Games. Now they are telling us not to hold this protest. By 2:30 p.m. they said, ‘We will send your name to the list’. So how are they going to send our names now that we have been sending them for so many days?” he said.Akash claimed that the sports ministry’s guidelines required the top six athletes to be considered for selection and alleged that the criteria had not been followed.“We will provide you with the documents. They (the selectees) have not played internationally. And in the national selection process that was held, the scores are changing,” claimed Akash.“There are people in para shooting who can’t even become members and yet they have become officials. We want justice,” he added.The shooters on Wednesday submitted a statement to the director general of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), demanding an urgent independent probe into what they described as “illegal extortion”, “brazen corruption” and violation of ministry guidelines by PCI officials and its Shooting Technical Committee (STC).Among their most serious allegations was that athletes were pressured to pay a 20 percent commission on government prize money as a condition of selection. They also claimed that international quotas and qualifying scores were rigged to favor certain shooters.