Indian women's rugby team stopped from Asiad participation, players lose jobs for training
Members of the Indian women's rugby team complained about losing their jobs because of the time taken out for training camp as the squad was disapproved Asian Games participation at the last moment. Priya Bansal mentioned that a private sector employee doesn't get two to three months off at stretch.
The participation of Indian women's rugby team has been canceled at the last moment owing to their lack of efficiency in reaching the standard rank. The team was ranked ninth, while the standard ranking for the approval of participation in Asian Games is eighth and above. Nasser Hussain, former captain and working in management of rugby India had conducted selection trials at the Punjab University to select 25 candidates for the training camp at Kolkata.
“It's really disappointing. At a time when the local game is expanding, we are reaching out to more and more women, we are getting results, this is a huge blow for us,” Hussain said.
However, attendance in the training camp meant the loss of jobs for a few women players. Namita Bhoj, playing for Indian women's rugby team has mentioned that she couldn't start her job as a physical education teacher because of the camp only to be dismissed from participating in the Asian Games at the last moment. Priya Bansal, another player shares a similar experience.
“I was supposed to start a job, as a physical education teacher. But I didn’t take it up because we were at the camp. I wanted to play at the Asian Games but we were culled at the last moment,” said Bhoj.
“You can’t work in the private sector and take two to three months off at the same time,” Priya shared.
Indian rugby squad had earned the second position at the Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Trophy in Vientiane, Laos, where the side made it to the continental stage in the second tier of Asia's premier rugby series. However, India had to withdraw owing to shortage of funds, especially in travel as mentioned by Hussain despite India being invited to participate with the pull out of two teams in the first division.
The rugby team had previously been stopped from participating in the 2014 Asian Games edition at Incheon. However, an IOA official mentioned that they are following the conditions mandated by the Sports Ministry of India in 2015.
"We are just following the criteria that
The rugby team had also participated in the international rugby fifteens tournament, the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship, held in Singapore in June after it got popular in the Sevens format. They encountered teams of Singapore and Philippines. In April, Rugby India held the first Inter-zonal tournament.
Neha Pardeshi, skipper of the team has initiated a petition on change.org, seeking support in form of signatures to clear their squad for participation in Asian Games scheduled to be held at Jakarta/Palembang from August 18.
“Indian sport’s administration is full of interpersonal ego-flexing and point-scoring in between a large cast of self-imagined alpha males. The Asian Games clearances have become a power play between Batra and any current adversaries he may want to take on – whether it is Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore or All India Football Federation boss Praful Patel. The rugby folk and the women’s team became merely collateral,” the petition read.
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