Indian citizens have been accusing Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem of tampering during the final of the Tokyo Olympics 2020. In a recent interview, Neeraj Chopra claimed that his personal javelin went missing in the final and he could not find it anywhere. Then he said that he found Nadeem moving around with his equipment in his hands. According to reports, he approached Nadeem and asked him to give it back. Then he said because of limited time to throw, he took his turn in a rush.
Many Indians have condemned Nadeem for taking Chopra’s gear during the match. They alleged that Nadeem was trying to do something to Chopra’s Javelin to sabotage his throw. The Pakistani Olympian hasn’t responded to the allegations yet.
Video of Neeraj Chopra taking Javelin from Arshad Nadeem Goes Viral
A lot of Indian accounts were sharing the same video from the final match in which Arshad Nadeem was handing Chopra his Javelin. Despite Chopra’s claim, it seemed like that there was no lip movement in the video that could have been for a long statement like “Bhai! give this javelin to me, it is my javelin! I have to throw with it”. It could take 3-4 seconds to speak all of this in a proper manner and nothing like that was seen in the viral video.
As it can be seen that Arshad just handed the javelin to Neeraj in a couple of seconds without any kind of conversation.
What has the Reaction Been?
The majority of Indians found the opportunity to make fun of Pakistan once again. They related this incident with similar ones in cricket where players tamper the ball in order to gain a tactical advantage.
Others acknowledged the fact that Arshad did hand over the Javelin to Neeraj, but weren’t sure why he was holding it in the first place. It could be due to any reason as both shared a friendly relation on the Tokyo tour as per the reports. However, even if Arshad Nadeem did mean to cause any harm, it was wrong to touch another player’s equipment without them knowing.
On the other hand, the audience with a knowledge of this sport disregarded the media reports and Neeraj’s interview. They strongly felt that there was something fishy going on recently as Neeraj and Arshad have always shared a good sportsmanship bond.
Claims of Friendship During Olympics
During the Tokyo Olympics and before going to India, Neeraj talked about how he respected Arshad and wanted him to win the medal too. The media and public also applauded both athletes from South Asia making their way into the Olympics final. If he was mad at Arshad for anything then he would have revealed it then and there instead of keep acting like everything was fine. Waiting for this long and pressing allegation from the comfort zone was not making much sense. Moreover, the Indian media also did not confirm why Arshad Nadeem was holding the spear and reported the news with incomplete facts. It allowed the extremists to implicate Pakistan in another wrongdoing by filling in the blanks with their own opinions.
Neeraj Chopra later released a video in which he clarified that his words were twisted to make a controversy when there wasn’t any. He said that there were no rules against using someone’s Javelin. He urged the public to refrain from using his name in furthering their own political agenda. The Indian athlete assured that all Javelin throwers treat each other with respect and kindness.
