Indian Olympic Association in search of new kit sponsor

IOA dropped Li Ning as its official kit sponsor for the Olympics and stated that the country's athletes will wear unbranded apparel during the Tokyo Games

New Delhi: After parting ways with Chinese sportswear company Li Ning to “honour public sentiment”, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday said it is hoping to find a new kit sponsor for the country’s Olympic-bound contingent by the end of this month.

The IOA on Tuesday dropped Li Ning as its official kit sponsor for the Olympics and stated that the country’s athletes will wear unbranded apparel during the Tokyo Games, scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8.

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But on Wednesday, IOA president Narinder Batra said search is on for a new sponsor within the limited available time.

“The process (of finding a new sponsor) is in progress but time in our hand is very limited. We don’t want to put pressure on anyone and have them on board under duress. It has to be on mutual agreement,” Batra said.

“By month end, we will have to take a call on whether to go unbranded. The apparels are ready and need to hand them over to our athletes as soon as possible.”

Sunlight Sports, which is the exclusive distributor of Li Ning products in India, said the company has accepted IOA’s decision looking at the current “fluctuating conditions in the country”.

“Sunlight Sports understands the current global situation and the fluctuating conditions in the country and have agreed to allow the Indian Olympic Association to arrange the official sports kit of the Indian Olympic team locally,” read a statement issued by IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta.

The IOA had unveiled the Olympic kit last week in the presence of sports minister Kiren Rijiju, which led to widespread criticism as Chinese companies had faced opposition after last year’s military face-off between the two countries in eastern Ladakh.

It is learnt that the Sports Ministry then advised the Olympic body to snap ties with the company. The IOA chief said that the decision to drop Li Ning was taken in public interest.

“I am not going to take the name of any company or anyone, but the decision was taken only after we started to receive criticism from all quarters, including the media following the announcement. We took this decision keeping in mind public sentiment,” Batra said.

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