Axed from the Indian team for the Asian Championships for pulling out of the Nationals here, top woman 20km race walker Khushbir Kaur today said that she had to suffer for no fault of hers as it was her coach Alexander Artsybashev who told her not to take part in the event.
Khushbir and top men's 20km race walker Manish Singh Rawat were axed from the Indian team for the Asian Race Walking Championships to be held on March 20 in Nomi, Japan, after they pulled out of the National Championships here yesterday at the last minute.
Both Khushbir and Rawat's names were there in the starting list but they chose not to take part in the event, which enraged the Athletics Federation of India bosses who had directed all the athletes to take part in the championships.
Russian-born Alexander, who is set to be shown the door after the Asian Championships, yesterday told reporters that both Khushbir and Rawat were not well and they were having fever, so they had to skip the National Championships.
But contrary to Alexander's claim, both Khushbir and Rawat said that they were fit but gave different reasons why they pulled out of the Nationals without informing the AFI.
"It is not my duty to inform the AFI. The coach is there for it. We have been training under a coach and please tell me whether I should listen to my coach (Alexander) or to AFI. He (Alexander) told me not to take part in the National Championships," Khushbir told PTI from her training base in Bangalore today.
Asked if she was not well and down with fever as had been claimed by Alexander, Khushbir said, "I was not having fever. I was not unwell. But he (Alexander) told me that I will be given direct entry by the AFI for the Asian Championships and there is no need to take part in the National Championships."
National record holder Khushbir, who won a silver in the 2014 Asian Games, said she had to suffer for no fault of hers but still appealed to the AFI to allow her to participate in the Asian Championships as she can win a medal.
"Whosoever is at fault, whether my coach or the AFI, I want to ask why I should suffer for no fault of mine? The matter should have been sorted out between the coach and the AFI. Is it wrong to believe what my coach said (that she will get a direct entry for the Asian Championships)?" she asked.
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Khushbir, who was present during the press conference to announce the National Championships, had said there that her participation would be decided by her coach.
AFI President Adille Sumariwalla, who was also present on that occasion, had made it clear that all the athletes will have to take part in the Nationals.
"It is only we athletes who are going to suffer due to issues between the federation and the coach. The country will miss out on a medal in the Asian Championships. I am ready to do my best in the Asian Championships and win a medal if the AFI reconsiders its decision and selects me," she said.
Rawat, on the other hand, said that he was not told by either AFI or national coach Alexander that the National Championships was mandatory for selection to the Asian event.
"If it was mandatory, I should have taken part. There was no problem at all. I was fit. Neither the coach nor the AFI told me that taking part in the National Championships was mandatory to get selected for the Asian Championships," said Rawat, who is here in Delhi.
"I don't want to invite any trouble in my career. I had suffered in a similar situation earlier. I will speak to the AFI officials and explain my position," he added.
Rawat claimed that coach Alexander wrote a letter last month to the AFI that both he (Rawat) and Khushbir be exempted from taking part in the National Championships and they be given direct entry for the Asian Championships.
"The AFI did not respond but just three days back coach (Alexander) told us that the AFI has been giving pressure that I and Khushbir should compete in the National Championships. This was told to us by the coach. Had I been told some 10-15 days earlier that I have to compete, I would have done that. But how can I prepare myself in just two-three days?"
This was not the first time such an incident happened. During the National Open Championships here in November 2014, Khushbir pulled out midway after Alexander stopped her from competing further, citing the danger of her picking up an injury.
Yesterday, a furious AFI Selection Committee Chairman Gurbachan Singh Randhawa had said that he has recommended to the federation that those athletes who did not take part in national events be thrown out of the national camps.
"They cannot behave like this. I have recommended to throw out these athletes from the national camps," said Randhawa.
Both Khushbir and Rawat were warned not to skip national tournaments in future and told if they repeat the same mistake, they would be barred from the national camp.
Alexander has been playing truant with the AFI officials for some time now and a top official revealed that he will be shown the door and another foreign coach, an Australian, will take over in the next couple of months.
