The organisers of the Doha Asian Games sought an apology from Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for his alleged "offensive behaviour" against officials and threatened legal action against the star Indian marksman.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (DAGOC) has asked Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for an immediate and unconditional apology from Rathore for his comments earlier this week.
Rathore had criticised the officials, alleging that arrogant organisers had bluntly asked him to move aside at the Games Village during training sessions and coach Sunny Thomas also alleged that the volunteers did not know how to behave.
Irked by the criticism, Abdulla Khalid Al Qahtani, director general, DAGOC refuted the allegations, claiming Rathore insisted on an :unscheduled training session at the Lusail Olympic Shooting Range ahead of his participation schedule," as against the rules.
In the letter to the IOA, Mr Qahtani also made it clear that the organisers reserved the right to take legal action, if required.
"Mr Rathore was not denied access; rather he wanted to train against the rules. He went to the Lusail Shooting Complex for an unscheduled training session, despite an Olympic Council of Asia rule that allows shooters to practice based on their scheduled slots to provide fair opportunity to all competing athletes," the letter said.
"His offensive behaviour, and the rude comments against volunteers and officials which followed, are very unsportsmanlike and totally not acceptable. The claims about our volunteers and paid staff are serious accusations and DAGOC reserves its right to take legal action to protect its 17,000 volunteers' rights who are working free of charge," it said.
