Bhubaneswar: International sprinter Dutee Chand, who deleted her Facebook post on the Odisha government’s sports policy after evoking a strong retaliation from former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, reiterated her stand on the issue on Saturday.
Dutee posted a message on her Whatsapp group and without naming, Dilip, said that the sportsperson, who criticised her, did so in his capacity as a politician. “He was speaking for his party,” she said, adding that the sportsperson was equally responsible for the plight of the athletes in the state.
“My post may have hurt some people, but what I mentioned is absolutely true,” she further added.
On Friday, the star athlete had criticised the BJD dispensation for spending more on hockey and not paying attention to other games. “Though the Odisha government has been spending crores of rupees on developing sports infrastructure, the state has not been able to produce sportspersons who have performed in any global event satisfactorily, ostensibly due to mismanagement by the people at the helm of the sports affairs,” she had said.
The former ruling party MP in the Rajya Sabha, Dilip slammed Dutee and said that it was not behoving on the part of a sportsperson to make such comments.
“As a sportsperson, I highly condemn the statement and want to assert that the government has been promoting all disciplines of sports without any bias or partiality,” tweeted Dilip, who is currently serving as the chairman of the ad hoc committee of Hockey India, along with a screenshot of Dutee’s post.
“Hockey is the game which has given recognition to India at the International level. This comment is unparliamentary and discouraging for fellow athletes. And lastly, being a player one should learn to give respect to other players,” he added.
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In July 2020, the Sports and Youth Services Department had informed that Dutee had received financial assistance of Rs 4.09 crore from the state government since 2015. She has also been appointed as an officer in the state-run Odisha Mining Corporation.
