New Delhi, March 3: The off-field issues with the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) has led to loss of opportunities for Indian para-athletes to gain slots for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, feels PCI president Deepa Malik. The 2016 Paralympics silver medallist, who was elected as president of the committee in early February, said that the while global crisis of coronavirus is a concern, the problems for Indian para-athletes started with the Sports Ministry de-recognising the PCI and the subsequent case in the Delhi High Court.

"Coronavirus has happened now but the de-recognition happened five months back. If that had not happened and administrative operations were going on smoothly, no disruptions would have been caused for the athletes because of the court case and internal fighting between those who are not athletes," Malik told IANS on the sidelines of an event at the Shriram Millenium school in Gurugram. Tokyo Olympics 2020: Indian Boxing Squad for Asia Oceania Olympic Qualifiers Announced.

"That surprises and saddens me that if we had not wasted these precious five months, we would have got more (Paralympic) slots. That's what happens, at the end of the day athletes suffer and I don't want my athletes to suffer." The Sports Ministry de-recognised the PCI in September 2019 citing infringement of the National Sports Code in the committee's decision to sack then President Rao Inderjit Singh. Malik's election to the post was validated by the Delhi High Court and she said that the PCI is hoping to regain recognition after the completion of pending paperwork.

"The work is going on but I understand that there are certain formalities. Once we finish that I will be taking an appointment. I also need to visit the ministry and the Sports Authority of India in an official capacity. I shall do that formal visit of interaction and orientation once my basic paperwork is complete," she said.

"Now that we have been approved by the high court we are doing the paperwork. I visited the headquarters in Bengaluru yesterday where we signed all the papers and submitted them in the registrar office. As soon as we get all the paper formalities done there we will then be taking it to the sports ministry. Since the high court has validated and with this being a very important sporting year for the country and we have very strong prospects from the Paralympic contingent, I am sure that we will not be ignored."

Malik said that the fact that athletes who were in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) have not been removed from there because of this and the fact that the PCI has not been suspended by the International Paralympic Committee is a positive sign. The lack of funding from the government as a result of the de-recognition has been a problem however but she said that the PCI's focus now is on the 19th Para nationals that will be held in Mysuru where Paralympics slots will be up for grabs.

"Right now my focus is on organising the national and state level meets. The upcoming national meet in Mysuru is a Paralympic qualifier as we have no suspension from the International Paralympic Committee. Internal work is going on. Of course, we are missing the funding from the government which should come through soon enough," she said.

The shadow of coronavirus however hangs heavy on India's preparations for 2020 Paralympics which is slated to be held from August 25 to September 6. "That worries me. Just yesterday the Sharjah Grand Prix meet got cancelled without any further date. Al-Hind shooting championship has also got cancelled. The visas for an event in Queensland we didn't get because they have internal order of not releasing any fresh visas. We are definitely in trouble," she said.

The transition from being an athlete to administrator has been a learning curve, the 49-year-old Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna winner admitted. But she has plans to strengthen the junior programme. For now however, her focus is on the immediate task of getting back recognition and ensuring a smooth conduct of events leading up to Tokyo 2020.

"I have always played in the field so I have to learn the office work, understand the bylaws. I have to learn to be indoors, I spend more time in the office now than in the field. My main focus will be ensuring the paperwork is done at the right time so that nothing hinders the participation of the athlete. "Also to focus on the work at the junior level. There is so much focus on Khelo India school games and the university games. So I have very pure intentions of organising the junior national championships in the month of October. Hopefully everything goes well," she said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2020 03:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).