Delhi captain Pradeep Sangwan's surgery expenses yet to be reimbursed by DDCA

03/23/2018

The Delhi District Cricket Association has come under fire after pacer Pradeep Sangwan has gone public saying that he is yet to be reimbursed for a spinal surgery that he had undergone in London last year. Sangwan said that the DDCA has informed him they lack the funds to pay him back at the moment.

BJP MP Kirti Azad and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have alleged corruption in Delhi & District Cricket Association against Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley two years ago and ever since then, the DDCA has always been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. The latest issue to come to light has involved pacer Pradeep Sangwan, who claimed that the DDCA authorities are yet to reimburse him for a spinal surgery that he had undergone at a hospital in London in June 2017.

Sangwan was told by the DDCA officials that the governing body lacked the required funds in order to compensate the player at the moment and hence could not afford to pay him back.

“Before leaving for London for the operation, I had informed DDCA about the expenses. At that time, they had asked me to bear the cost and said that they would reimburse the amount once I was back. It has been over nine months now and I am yet to receive the money,” Sangwan told The Quint.

But in direct contradiction to Sangwan’s claims, Justice Vikramjit Sen, who has been appointed by the High Court to look after DDCA’s administration, has denied that no such assurance was given to the player ahead of his surgery.

“While every player is valuable at DDCA, there is no policy at DDCA for the reimbursements of medical expenses of players but despite that I was of the opinion that our players should get as much support as possible. After much discussion, it was agreed that DDCA would have agreed to pay half the expenses towards his surgery and the other half would be borne by Mr. Sangwan as he is a cricketer of some standing and could afford to pay the other half and he had agreed to do so,” Sen said.

After Sangwan underwent surgery, he made a return to the Delhi team this season. He was also named captain for the last two tournaments that Delhi played this season. Sangwan had to pay a sum o Rs. 21 lakh for his surgery, which he underwent in a clinic in London.

“Previously, when I got operated, DDCA bore all the expenses. Even in case of some senior players, who were previously operated several times, DDCA settled all the medical bills for then,” Pradeep told The Quint.

The BCCI, which is one of the richest sporting bodies in the world will indeed have the final say in this matter. But the BCCI officials are not too keen on the prospect of reimbursing the player themselves.

“In Sangwan’s case, the injury was not reported at the time he experienced discomfort and stiffness in his lower back, and the insurance company declined to pay any amount,” a top BCCI official told The Times of India.

Delhi captain Pradeep Sangwan's surgery expenses yet to be reimbursed by DDCA

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