Indian Women's Hockey team player denies being forced to sit on the floor during their train journey

After a disappointing show at the Rio Olympics 2016 for the Indian contingent, national authorities and sporting bodies around the country have been blasted by fans and media alike for their poor treatment and facilities provided for the athletes both at home and in Rio. In the midst of the chaos that was ongoing in the country, reports emerged on 29 August stating that four hockey players returning from Rio were forced to sit on the floor on a train journey back home.

However, the Railways quickly put these rumours to rest in a statement that said, "The news reports about women's hockey team, after their return from Rio Olympics being forced to sit on the floor while they were travelling from Ranchi to Rourkela via Bokaro-Alleppey Express train is completely false. Also, the information that of the TTE asked them to sit on the floor of the bogey of the train is untrue.”

Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Sunita Lakra and Lilima Minz, the four players who represented India at the Rio Olympics - reached the station from the Ranchi airport and took the train without any information to the Indian Railways. "However, when the players boarded the train with unconfirmed tickets, the TTE took only 20 minutes to make seats available to them,” the statement added.

However, one of the players Namita Toppo has now spoken about the issue and was quoted by the Quint as saying, “The TT went to check the train for empty seats for us, we were waiting. We sat on the floor because we were tired and it was just a matter of 20 minutes. I want to clarify that none of us ‘were made to sit on the floor’ of the train. In fact, when the TT returned, he even allotted us seats for the journey in 20 minutes”.

All four of the players work with the Railways and are hence granted a certain number of seats when they wish to travel. They were also given air tickets from Ranchi but couldn’t travel by flight since Rourkela does not have an airport. The players also received a warm welcome upon their arrival in the station.