Petroleum Minister Moily upset with BAI

Union Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily today said that his Ministry was concerned about the way the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has treated the ace shuttle Jwala Gutta.

The Minister had met Jwala, who is an employee of the Bharat Petroleum Company, on the issue of BAI's disciplinary action against her for alleged indiscipline and shot a letter to the Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on October 23, requesting him to intervene and solve the impasse amicably.

Stating that "he is confident that justice will be done to Jwala", Moily said that a player of her stature and reputation is being treated in a trivial manner by BAI.
The letter also said that as patron of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, he was concerned at the way petroleum sector sports fraternity stalwart was being dealt with.

"We (petroleum board) give a lot of sponsorship to BAI and badminton players and you cannot curb the talents, who get a lot of laurels to the country," he told reporters at the Bangalore International Airport here.

Moily insisted that Jwala should not be prevented from playing at the international tournaments.

"The case should be considered properly on merit because she is the pride of the country. You cannot prevent her from participating in international and national events," he said.

The BAI's disciplinary committee had recommended a life ban on Jwala for trying to stop some players from her franchise Krrish Delhi Smashers from playing a match against Banga Beats in the Indian Badminton League in August.

Jwala's name was then withdrawn from the Denmark Open by the BAI but the Delhi High Court ordered to overturn the association's decision pending the completion of the probe.