Bengaluru: IndiGo airlines on Friday charged an additional amount of Rs 1,500 from an Olympic bronze medalist Sreejesh PR for carrying a 41-inch hockey stick in his baggage at the Kempegowda International Airport in Karnataka's Bengaluru.
The Olympic medalist took to Twitter to express his frustration for charging him extra money for handling "goalkeeper baggage". Drawing a comparison between the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the domestic carrier, Sreejesh highlighted how the airlines "never allowed" him to carry anything over 38 inches.
"FIH allows me to play with a 41-inch hockey stick, but @IndiGo6E never allows me to carry anything over 38inch. What to do? Pay extra Rs 1,500 for handling the goalkeeper baggage. #loot," Sreejesh wrote on a Twitter post. Sreejesh was a part of the Indian hockey team that bagged a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
The hockey player's post caused quite a stir on the microblogging platform, with Twitter users coming forward in support of the player. Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla blasted the airlines for lacking "common sense" and told not to hound the hockey player for "petty amount". Senior journalist Aditya Raj Kaul told the carrier to have some "respect" for the star goal player, and advised IndiGo to implement "sensible rules".
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However, a user shared how the tables would have turned if the hockey player was a cricketer. "If it would have been a cricketer they would have given free ticket as well..Pathetic @IndiGo6E no respect shown for an Olympic medal winner..," the user wrote. While there was some section that sided with the airline and told the goalkeeper to "follow the rules".
Another user wrote that Sreejesh should stop fussing about the incident. The star goalkeeper has been recently nominated for the FIH men's goalkeeper of the year award. He is also the second Indian player to win the 'World Games Athlete of the Year 2021' award for his performance. However, at the time of publishing, the carrier still has not given any official statement or response to Sreejesh's allegations.
