Imphal: A day of swinging fortunes ended on Saturday with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) saying it was too late to send Manipur weightlifter Monika Devi to Beijing for the 2008 Games though the Sports Authority of India (SAI) cleared her of dope charges.

A Manipur government official in Delhi said IOA secretary general Randhir Singh told the association’s officials in Delhi from Beijing that it was too late for Monika to reach the China capital as her name had been withdrawn from the Indian contingent.

“This information has been passed on to Manipur sports minister, N. Biren Singh,” the official told The Telegraph on Saturday evening.

Earlier, an upbeat Biren Singh, who has been camping in New Delhi for the past three days to clear the cloud on Monika, had said over phone: “Monika will finally go to Beijing. We are waiting for documents and ticket from Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh Kalmadi. She will leave Delhi before daybreak on Sunday.”

Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who had rushed Biren Singh to Delhi on Thursday, himself went to the capital this morning to seek Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention in the matter.

They met the Prime Minister at 4.20pm, after which Manmohan Singh “directed” the IOA chief to “clear up” the matter, Biren Singh told this correspondent.

Following the Prime Minister’s directive, the SAI issued a “no-objection certificate”, clearing the decks for IOA to send Monika to Beijing, where her event (69kg) is scheduled for Wednesday.

“It is too late for Monika to come to Beijing now and take part in the Olympic Games because we have closed the entry process,” Randhir Singh told a news agency in Beijing.