New Delhi:
A group of Indian cyclists, initially part of the 27-member Commonwealth Games (CWG) squad but later dropped mysteriously, has alleged that there was no transparency in the Cycling Federation of India's (CFI) selection procedure.
The federation omitted Hitraj Singh, Gurbaaz Singh and Paramjit Singh's names from the final list of squad for the October 3-14 event without giving a proper explanation.
The allegations come close on the heels of India's Australian coach Graham Seers' statement that there was "no criteria" for the CWG team selection.
The list, consisting of 18 men and nine women cyclists, was prepared after the final selection trial in the Capital.
But when the team started their journey from Patiala to the Village here, chief coach Chayan Chowdhury told the trio from Punjab that they were no longer part of the team.
"I had participated in every selection trials for the team since July. All three of us cleared mandatory trials organised by the federation. When we started our journey from Patiala to Delhi, the chief coach told us that we are no longer part of the team and this event does not belong to you," Hitraj told reporters from Patiala.
"I was preparing for the Time trial competition in the Games. We all were given brand new imported cycles worth Rs 4.5 lakh to practice and were also asked to sign the mandatory SAI's bond. I want to ask the federation why they gave us all the facilities when they were to drop our name from the final list," asked Hitraj.
The selection trials were held in Patiala on August 16 for road cycling and on August 21-22 for track in New Delhi.
However, the CFI claimed the allegations were baseless.
"The decision was taken purely on the basis of performance. The entries, which were sent to the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, did not mention their area of competition. They were never part of the squad. I have never told the trio that you are part of the final contingent participating in the Games," said Chaudhary.
"I, along with our foreign coach Graham Seers, had finalised the final list of cyclists and we always kept performance in the trials in mind," Chaudhary added.
CFI's assistant secretary V N Singh put the blame on the lack of communication and said the federation will look into the matter after the Games. "Such thing has happened due to some communication gap. We will look into the matter after the Games and inquire coaches about the incident," Singh said.
Forty-eight medals are up for grabs in 14 track events, (eight for men and six for women) and two road events (mass start and time trial) in cycling event.
After a gap of 32 years, Indians are competing in cycling but the hosts have only a slim chance of medals, with strong contenders such as Australia and England in the fray.