Kerala government fails to reward Asian Games athletes

The 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games medalists from Kerala are yet to receive the prize money promised to them over a month ago. This comes on the back of multiple top athletes from Kerala shifting states after alleging shoddy treatment.

Originally, a meeting of the Kerala Cabinet held on October 18 had decided that the state's gold medalists would receive ₹25 lakh, while the silver and bronze medalists would get ₹19 lakh and ₹12.5 lakh respectively. These amounts were already far lower than the other states, with Haryana awarding its winners ₹3 crore, ₹1.5 crore and ₹75 lakh respectively, according to the color of their medal.

On October 19, the Kerala government hosted a felicitation ceremony for its ten Asian Games medalists and made promises that the prize money would be in the players' bank accounts within a week. However, this hasn't materialized till date.

The delay in clearance of the money is reportedly due to the "acute financial crisis and the unprecedented restrictions on treasury payments."

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HS Prannoy, Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker shift states

World championships bronze medalist HS Prannoy along with Asian Games medalists Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker had decided to switch states in October after alleging shoddy treatment from the sporting authorities in Kerala.

Speaking on his decision, the shuttler told OnManorama:

"I have always taken great pride in representing Kerala. I can no longer put up with the poor treatment meted out to me by the sports fraternity in the state."

Both Prannoy and Eldhose Paul had stated that they failed to receive even a single congratulatory message on behalf of the officials after they claimed podium finishes in Hangzhou.

At the time, president of the State Sports Council, U Sharif Ali, had said:

"Sportspeople from Kerala are duty-bound to show their commitment to the state. One should not regard money as more important than the state, which facilitated their training."