Ashwini Ponnappa retorts to Paris Olympics 2024 funding news reports, says she did not receive any funding

Indian badminton player Ashwini Ponnappa took to social media to refute claims of getting funded from the government for their training ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) had written a news item saying badminton players have attended 13 national camps and 81 foreign exposure trips, all funded under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), in the Paris Olympic cycle.

The report mentioned that Ashwini and her doubles partner Tanisha Crasto received INR 1.5 crore each in support from the TOPS in the Paris Olympic cycle.

The duo were ousted from the women’s doubles in the group stages at the Olympics after losing all their matches.

The Indian badminton player took to X, formerly Twitter, and said the news report is far from facts. “How can an article be written without getting facts right? How can this lie be written? Received 1.5 CR each? From whom? For what? I haven't received this money. I was not even part of any organization or TOPS for funding,” Ashwini wrote.

She added she was self funded till November 2023 and was included in the TOPS after qualifying for the Paris Olympics. “I have funded myself for tournaments until Nov last year, after which I was sent with the Indian team for tournaments as I met the selection criteria to make the team. I was included as part of the TOPS scheme only after qualifying for the Paris 2024 Games till the Olympic Games, that’s it. Again, how can this be written without getting the facts checked?,” she added.

The 34-year-old badminton player said she did not receive any money for training from either support organisations nor CSR development groups. “The real facts are I am “not funded” by any organisation. I was included in TOPS after our qualification, that too for the duration till the Olympics only. (We) haven’t taken money from any of the support organisations and CSR development groups,” she tweeted.

She added that Tanisha and she did not even get their doubles coach for the Paris Olympics 2024. “The fact is, as far as support goes, we wanted our doubles coach, who is such an integral part of our doubles team, to travel with us, and we were denied this,” she said before concluding by urging a fact check before publishing reports.