No checks before handing cheques

New Delhi, Sept. 23: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was left red-faced during Sunday’s felicitation ceremony to award cash prize to Asian Games medallists as the parent body got multiple names wrong on the cheques and even missed out on one.

Around 15 medallists including compound archers Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Abhishek Verma were given just bouquets as their names were misprinted on cheques.

The IOA awarded `3 lakh, `2 lakh and `1 lakh to the gold, silver and bronze medal winners in the team events.

The individual medallists received `5 lakh, `3 lakh and `2 lakh respectively.

“I would like to apologise in advance for our mistake. The names of around 14-15 players have been printed incorrectly so we will give them a bouquet. But don’t worry, you will get your cash prizes. I didn’t want to give cheques with misspelt names,” President, IOA, Narinder Batra, said.

In another embarrassing moment, the organisers forgot to mention the name of bronze medal winning wrestler Divya Kakran.

It was only after Kakran’s parents raised the issue with Batra after the ceremony had ended that the president called Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, who had almost left the venue, to announce the prize for Kakran.

“They are saying her name is not on the list but we had given her name. I dont know what is happening,” Kakran’s mother said.

“There is always a first time. The players performed so well that we decided to award them with cash incentives. We will continue to give these cash awards in future be it the Olympics, Commonwealth Games or the Asian Games,” Secretary General, IOA, Rajeev Mehta said.

“The funds for these incentives will be provided by our sponsors,” he added.