With barely 10 days left for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games to start, a row has flared up between the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the sports ministry over the size of the contingent. The main point of contention is over ‘extras’ among the 74 non-athletes in the squad, in a contingent that IOA bosses said on Thursday will be the second largest at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The sports ministry usually prunes the list, but IOA president, Narinder Batra, slammed the ministry saying he has unofficially learnt that at least 21 names have been cut from the yet-to-be-approved list. You blame the federation for every wrong step, but how many (SAI) Sports Authority of India officials are going? If there are passengers in the squad, tell us.”Asked if he was on a warpath with the sports ministry, Batra said: “If you think it’s warpath, I can’t help.

Source: Hindustan Times March 22, 2018 13:52 UTC