Rio Olympics: No TV sets in rooms, India to buy their own

Rio de Janeiro: The Indian contingent has decided to help themselves in view of the shortage of furniture and TV sets in the Games Village. India’s request for more furniture and TV sets was not accepted by the Games Village authorities, who said that all the contingents have been provided the same facilities and they cannot make any exceptions. The authorities maintained that the facilities provided in the village have been approved by the IOC. Even in the 2012 London Olympics, the Games village had no separate TV sets for the teams in their apartments. No African and majority of the Asian and Latin American countries have so far raised any objections about the facilities in the Village though they admit that not everything is okay in the village. Given the financial constraints in which the Organising Committee is operating, the objections by the Indians seems odd. However, Chef de Mission, Rakesh Gupta, has now opted to go ahead and purchase the TV sets and chairs on his own. “Following a request from our hockey teams to provide them with more chairs and TV sets, I had spoken and also written to the Organising Committee (OC) to do so,” Gupta said. “The Organising Committee’s representative replied, saying ‘Unfortunately, Rio 2016 is only providing TVs for the Chef de Mission office and the TV Lounge in the common spaces. As well the furniture is provided according to the guidelines confirmed and agreed with the IOC. You are welcome to come to the Rate Card Desk and check if there are items available to purchase’.” The Chef de Mission meanwhile offered the hockey team the TV set and the furniture in his office. The request for the items came at the Managers/Coaches meeting with the Chef de Mission. Following the hockey teams’ request, the athletics squad also made a similar demand. Finally, the Chef de Mission has now requested the Indian Embassy to purchase these items for the contingent. “Now we have decided to put one TV set on each of the floors and also put additional chairs. The equipment is expected to be placed in the apartments in the next few days.” The OC representative also said they would check if the apartments can receive the cabling and make an inspection. “I also inquired about the Cable Connection for TV sets on each floor and was told they would check if apartments can receive cabling. They have also informed us that this installation is chargeable. We have agreed to pay for cabling for each of the floors. The Organising Committee is making arrangements to do the same and it could take a day or two,” Gupta said. “We are trying to make things as comfortable as possible for our athletes, since they are representing our country. All their demands and requests have been met and we are working to ensure this one is also met.”