Asian Games 2018: Athletes Reportedly Travelled by Economy Class & Officials by Business

The Asian Games 2018, witnessed a great run of a luck for India as they registered 69 medals in their kitty. While the country is basking in glory about the highest number of medals that India got, a lot seems to have gone under the carpet. As the athletes reportedly have been flown by the economy class, whereas the officials like RK Sacheti travelled from Jakarta to India in business. This has not gone down well with members of the Indian volleyball team.

On the state of anonymity, the players said, “They are here because of us. Not the other way around. I am okay flying economy but not if these officials are given better seats," said a member of the Indian volleyball team on board SQ 967 from Jakarta to Singapore. Sacheti also offered an explanation for having travelled by business class. We too are supposed to fly economy but I have used my air miles to upgrade," the top official from Boxing Federation of India (BFI) said.

A while ago, there were reports on the Indian bridge team not receiving their official blazers. “Initially, we were told that we will not get any kits but later (after sports ministry's intervention) we got the jerseys but we have not still received the team blazers. The official reception is just around the corner so we have thought of stitching the logos on our own," said Debasish Ray, the team's non-playing captain and coach. According to him, the Indian Olympic Association was reluctant to send the players to Jakarta. Despite Pranab Bardhan and Shibnath Sarkar winning three gold medals, the West Bengal government did not announce any cash prize or accolades for the duo.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 04, 2018 08:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).