Gold Coast: Olympic bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal has claimed that her father Harvir's name has been removed from the Indian team official's list for the Commonwealth Games, leaving her frustrated just before the start of the mega event.
The Sports Ministry had stated that parents of Saina and Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu will be travelling to the Gold Coast Games at no costs to the government and were cleared to be part of the Indian contingent.
"Surprise to see that when we started from India for commonwealth games 2018 my father was confirmed as the team official and I paid the whole amount for that but when we came to the games village ... his name was cut from team official category .. and he can't even stay with me," Saina wrote on her twitter handle.
A frustrated Saina said that her father's support is crucial for her during matches and tagged the Commonwealth Games Federation in her tweets.
"He can't c my matches and he can't enter the village nor he can meet me in anyway .. what kind of support is this ..@thecgf.
"I wanted his support as I regularly take him for my competitions ...but i didn't understand why nobody informed me all this earlier .. that he can't enter anywhere #CommonwealthGames2018."
Saina's father Harvir Singh Nehwal and PV Sindhu's mother Vijaya are among the 15 individuals who, despite being cleared to be part of the Indian contingent, are not funded by the government for their travel, stay and other expenses.
A bronze medallist at the London Olympics in 2012, Saina won the gold at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, but an injury dashed her hopes four years later at Glasgow.