Guwahati, Feb. 27: The Basketball Federation of India has alleged that the imported projection used initially for the sport during the National Games was fake.

Calling the projection a “duplicate” of the brand for which the order was placed, the federation, at its annual general meeting in Ludhiana recently, resolved to move Dispur and Delhi on the issue.

The Mondo-trademarked projection imported for the Games was found to be defective and unworthy of competition matches. Though it was used for preliminary-round matches, an India-made projection had to be used for the finals during the mega event.

The National Games Secretariat (NGS) top brass, including chief secretary P.C. Sarma found the quality of the projection to be poor compared with the local one purchased for the Games. But the secretariat dismissed the allegation that the projection was fake. “The equipment malfunctioned because of mistakes in installation. We have checked the papers of the imported equipment in detail, including the Customs clearance papers,” an official said.

The federation has also pointed to the fact that the projection was supplied by New Delhi-based Chadda Sports — a marketing firm blacklisted by the Sports Authority of India’s equipment support department, considered to be the apex technical platform for Olympic sports in India.

Federation vice-president and Basketball Association of Assam general secretary Mukut Medhi said the BFI would submit a memorandum to Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi soon. A copy would also be sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“Being the general secretary of the Assam Olympic Association, I was also pulled up in the AGM. But when I apprised the house about how I was sidelined and how the BAA was not taken into confidence during the purchase of gear, the federation resolved to move the Prime Minister and the state chief minister, who was the organising committee chairman,” Medhi said.

The NGS said that if the state associations and federations had been taken into confidence during the purchase of equipment, such problems would not have arisen.

The secretariat had procured equipment worth Rs 18 crore — an amount that could have come down to a fourth of the total, had the material been purchased through federations. However, the government’s set rules did not allow the NGS to make purchases through the federations, the official added.