During the closing ceremony of Durand Cup, Governor of West Bengal, LA Ganesan has pushed away Sunil Chhetri while posing for a photograph. Such an insult to a source of national pride like Chhetri cannot be tolerated by any means. And if such instances keep occurring in the future, it will be extremely demotivating for all the sports lovers and all those people who bring so many accolades for India.

What’s also distressing is that during such photo ops, the athletes are left to crowd around from the side, while it's the politicians who’re posing front and centre with the trophy. Why have no sports organisers paid attention to rectifying this? 

We should heed the advice of the former Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia who has said that politicians should not be permitted at the awards ceremonies in sports tournaments. They should not be allowed to steal the limelight from our athletes at sporting events. 

Most importantly, the Governor of West Bengal should apologise to Sunil Chhetri for his behaviour in front of the media and ensure he gives due respect to all such personalities in future.

Click here to sign this petition so that no Indian sportsperson has to suffer such disrespect again.