Sports Ministry Rejects Dutee Chand & Harbhajan Singh’s Nominations For National Awards
New Delhi: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand’s nomination for Arjuna award and cricketer Harbhajan Singh’s nomination for Khel Ratna award were rejected by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
“The state governments filed the nominations after the deadline and that is why their names were rejected. Especially in Chand’s case, apart from missing deadline, her medals were also not in order of ranking. Ministry has asked Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to give the order of ranking for given nominations and she stands at fifth. So her nomination was rejected,” a source in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) told ANI.
While speaking to ANI, Chand said that she met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and asked him to resend her file to the Sports Ministry for consideration.
Sprinter Dutee Chand on Arjuna Award: I showed him my medals & requested him to send my name once again, after consulting with the Sports Minister. He told me that he will send the file and talk to him about me. He told me to focus on training and competition. https://t.co/M601896bCd
— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2019
“I met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and showed him the gold medal that I won in the World University Games in Napoli and requested him to resend my file. He assured me that he will send my nomination again for Arjuna Award and said you do not worry and prepare for the upcoming competitions,” Chand told ANI.
“As of now Arjuna Award is not missed as the final result is yet to come officially. I got to know that my nomination was filed late that might be because of the elections (general and state assembly) and cyclone Fani,” she added.
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