The infighting that saw Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) suspended by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and subsequently by the Sports Ministry, remained rife on Thursday with allegations of financial irregularities and fraudulent practices being levied against suspended president Rajesh Tomar. Speaking about the fiasco at Para Athletic Nationals at Ghaziabad in March where the athletes were subjected to abysmal conditions, PCI executive officer Satyanarayana said, “In February (2015), Tomar asked for the event to be held near Delhi as against our preference of Visakhapatnam. And he allowed for more athletes to participate in the championship (600 entries as against the expected 450).” It must be noted that Satyanarayana was the technical committee head of that event.
As a way forward, PCI has called an AGM on 17th May in Bengaluru. They are expected to discuss election of a new president and plan to get the suspension lifted. Meanwhile the athletes have been left in the dark with key competitions such as qualifiers for Rio Paralympic Games and World Championship in Doha in October where 14 athletes have qualified.