Non-compliance fines and denied courts: AIU's negligence hurting India at World University Games?

Just days after India bagged its first medal of the 2025 World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) which is leading the country's contingent finds itself in a pickle.

Multiple athletes, including shuttlers and track & field stars from India have alleged mismanagement from the association with their names missing from the entry list just before the events.

Social media revelations

It all began to unravel when shuttler Alisha Khan, in a social media post early Monday morning, said that she and five others in the Indian badminton contingent found their names missing from the entry list for the mixed team event.

By evening, Indian athletes began experiencing similar situations in other disciplines as well with 5,000m, 10,000m runner Seema and 400m sprinter Devyani Zala narrating the same ordeal.

The six shuttlers – Rohan Kumar, Viraj Vilas, Darshan Pramod, Abhinash Mohanty, Aditi Bhatt, and Khan – got to know that their names were missing from the list on the eve of India's mixed team's opening match against Macau.

With no coach accompanying the badminton team, the shuttlers themselves decided the line-up for the tie and were looking to submit the names on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website, when they noticed that their names were missing.

Khan, who is now preparing for the individual events where she is seeded No. 1 in women's doubles, spoke to The Bridge late on Monday night.

"At first, we thought it was a technical error from the organisers end," said Khan. "But when we contacted FISU officials, they informed us that only six names were submitted out of the 12 players, who had travelled for the event."

The situation could have been avoided, if the issue was raised during the team managers' meeting, which happened on 16th July, 2028 – a day before the badminton mixed team competition started.

Two managers from the Indian contingent had attended the meeting, and one other reportedly reached the venue 30 minutes late. One of the shuttlers – Viraj Vilas – had even offered to accompany the managers to the meeting, but was turned down.

"The managers told me that the form [which has to be filled with player names] was complicated and we couldn't understand it," said a dejected Khan.

"We were later told the KIIT University sent just six names before hand. But even FISU officials told us the managers had the opportunity to rectify it, but they did not. They signed and approved the nomination list," she added.

With their names not entered, the six shuttlers who missed out and did not get game-time, Khan included, were not allowed on the podium either when their counterparts received their bronze medals.

To make matters worse, while the other teams on the podium stood with 12 shuttlers, all displaying their medals with pride, India had only six.

The Joint Secretary of AIU, Baljit Singh Sekhon, who is heading the Indian contingent in Germany, meanwhile, looked to brush the situation under the carpet.

"I reached out to the joint secretary of AIU and he said: "Meri kya galti? ab iss sab hungame se mera job jaa raha h (What's my fault in this? Now my job is in danger because of this controversy)," said Khan.

An e-mail and a text message from The Bridge to Sekhon seeking a response went unanswered. An outreach via phone was met with a similar outcome, with calls being disconnected.

Players begged for practice courts

The mismanagement in badminton was not limited to player entries. The managers reportedly forgot to collect player accreditations from the Dusseldorf airport once they landed.

It was only after they reached the practice courts and the shuttlers were denied entry that they realised that accreditations were missing. The players had to wait at Westenergie Sporthalle in Mülheim, which is around 25 km from the Dusseldorf airport as the managers went back to collect the accreditation.

The shuttlers also had to plead for practice courts before the competitions began and had to train with shuttlecocks used by Japanese shuttlers.

Khan and the rest of the contingent found out once they reached the arena that the three managers accompanying the badminton contingent has forgotten to book practice courts for the team.

"We reached for court practice and then we were told by officials there that there was no court booked for India," Khan revealed. "We had to beg for them to accommodate us.

"We did not have shuttlecocks either. We had to use those which were used and discarded by the Japanese shuttlers in practice, when we were trying to get used to the conditions," she further alleged.

AIU fined for jersey infringement

The aforementioned saga notwithstanding, The Bridge also learnt that the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) was fined up to EUR 1000 per match for flouting the set jersey regulations.

As per the BWF rules, the player names printed on the jersey has to be the last name as recorded in the BWF database and if desired, the initials of first name as in the database can be used.

The same rule was applied at the 2025 World University Games.

This rule was blatantly flouted by the Indian contingent with full player names – both first and last names – printed on the back of the jersey.

"The team is getting fined 1000 euros per match, which AIU will have to pay," Khan revealed. "It is an international embarrassment that we couldn't even wear proper jerseys and play."

A squad without a coach

The 12-player badminton contingent had also requested to fly down Umendra Rana – a renowned coach with the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) – for the competition.

The AIU asked the coach to travel on his own cost. His inability to meet the expenses meant that the team had no coach.

Despite the hiccups, the Indian mixed team walked away with a historic bronze medal.

If only the entire contingent was entered and the six that did play received adequate rest in between matches, there was every possibility that the team could have advanced even further and possibly be in contention for silver or gold.

For now, the AIU delegation in Rhine-Ruhr remains tightlipped even as The Bridge seeks to report their explanation on these rather unfortunate developments.