NEW DELHI: Indian wrestler Antim Panghal on Thursday clarified that neither she nor her sister was detained or arrested by Paris Police following the use of her accreditation card by her sibling to enter the Olympic Village.
Contrary to media reports, Antim explained that her sister on Wednesday went to collect her belongings after she fell ill following her pre-quarterfinal loss.
Antim was defeated by Turkey's Zeynep Yetgh 0-10 in the women's 53kg category on Wednesday and subsequently fell ill with a high fever.
She then moved from the Games Village to join her sister at a hotel.
“I want to clarify that the reports about my sister or me being detained by police in Paris are false, nothing of this sort happened. Yesterday, I fell extremely sick after losing the bout and had a high fever. So my sister, who was staying in a hotel asked me to come there. I took permission from my coach, which he allowed," said Antim in a video statement on Thursday.
"After coming to the hotel, I needed my belongings, which were at the Olympic Village. But as I was not feeling well I slept and my sister took my accreditation card and went to the Village," she added.
The 19-year-old wrestler stated that she was called to the police station for accreditation verification but was not detained.
“Upon reaching there she said that this is my sister’s accreditation card and she is unwell, so can I collect her belongings from the Games Village? The officials took the accreditation card and took her to the police station for verification. I was not taken to the police station, only my sister went. And that too just to verify the accreditation, following which she was asked to go and was handed over the accreditation card," the wrestler said.
“They are also saying that the coach fought with a cab driver. This didn’t happen at all, when I lost the bout, even the coach was extremely upset. While I came to the hotel, he stayed at the Village, and we booked a cab for him till the hotel.
“The problem escalated due to the language barrier. After reaching the hotel, the coaches didn't have enough Euros and informed the cab driver to allow them to go to the room and bring it. However, both parties had problems understanding each other and in the meantime, one of the coaches came up to the room. It took him almost five minutes to return with Euro, so due to this there was a fight between the coaches and the cab driver," Antim concluded.
Earlier, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) dismissed reports that a ban had been imposed on Antim for a disciplinary breach in the Games Village.
The IOA had decided to fly Antim and her support staff back home.
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