Denied entry to stadium: Athletes
Panchkula, March 21
Many athletes at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Sector 3 and the District Sports Officer (DSO) exchanged a series of allegations after the athletes staged a protest. They said that the DSO has been restricting the entry of the players into the stadium.
While the players maintained that the DSO was not allowing them to practice at the stadium, the officer claimed that, as per the regulations, the players have to register to use facilities free of charge at the government venue. DSO Neel Kamal said, “There are many people who have started private coaching here and are running businesses. Many players are not even registered, and a lot of them do not possess membership cards. The process to register these players has already started, and it will take two to three days to issue the membership cards. No one has been stopped from using the facility, but we cannot allow private coaches to give paid training here at this government facility.”
Contrary to the DSO claims, players allege they have been harassed for many months. “The DSO has stated football training is here. As a result of this, we athletes (field events) are not able to train in the stadium,” said Ankit.
The complex, though, houses the facility for playing football and has hosted many events in the past too. “Football players are deliberately sent to stop athletes, and we are thrown out of the stadium,” added Aditi, another athlete.
The athletes have written a letter to the CM, requesting that he take action against the DSO.
