Sushil Kumar of the India Olympic wrestling team carries his country's flag during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England
A bureacratic snag will force India’s Olympic athletes to wave a generic flag at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, rather than the orange, white and green.
Yahoo News reports that Indian athletes are fuming at their Olympic Association for its sluggish response to a corruption scandal in December of 2012 that froze India’s membership in the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC gave India until February 7 to vote in new, untainted leadership, but India’s Olympic Association scheduled a vote on February 9, two days after the opening ceremony. As a result, India’s athletes will have to parade as “independents” under a generic Olympic flag.
Shiva Keshavan, a luger in the upcoming games, called the association’s refusal to expedite the vote “sad and pathetic.”