Coronavirus: Former India hockey player Ashok Diwan left stranded in US seeks help from IOA

Ashok Diwan, a member of India’s triumphant Hockey World Cup team of 1975, is stuck in USA due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.  The hero of the 1975 World Cup winning hockey team  has appealed to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president N. K. Batra seeking help. Ashok was scheduled to  fly back to Delhi on April 20 by Air India however the ongoing health scare put his plans in jeopardy. 

The former goalkeeper added, “I request Union Sports Minister (Kiran Rijiju) and Union External Minister (S. Jaishankar) to instruct the Indian Embassy at San Francisco to help me with a hospital for my checkup or if they can arrange earlier departure from San Francisco to India. I will pay the bills when I come back in India.” 

Ashok also rued the fact that he does not have any medical insurance in US  add to that the high medical cost in the country. The United States, where the pandemic is spreading rapidly, has so far recorded 432,132 cases, including 14,817 deaths, massive figures compared to India where close to 5000 positive cases have been recorded with over 150  deaths.