Indian sprinter Dutee Chand is contemplating selling her prized possession, a BMW, in a bid to meet the financial needs for her training as the global pandemic had led to cutting short of sponsors.
Dutee took to her social media account to post pictures of her luxurious BMW in abid to seek buyers but later deleted the post. She had bought the 2015 BNW 3-series model for INR 30 lakhs.
"No sponsor is willing to spend on me due to this pandemic. I am in need of money and so have decided to sell it off to meet my training and diet expenses as I'm preparing for the Tokyo Olympic, which has been shifted to July 11, 2021, due to Covid-19 Outbreak," Dutee Chand told India Today.
"Even (State) Government people are saying they are going through a financial crunch."
Dutee also revealed that she had bought the car with the cash reward she received from Orissa CM Naveen Pattnaik following her Asian Games acheivement.
"I bought it after I received a cash reward of Rs 3 crore from Orissa CM Naveen Pattnaik for my achievement in Asian Games, On that money, I built my house and purchased the BMW Car."
On being asked why she deleted the post, Dutee admitted that fans were advising government support in the comments section.
"Since I have two other cars with me, also there is not enough space for 3 cars at my Residence, so I want to sell one."
Meanwhile, the government had granted her INR 50 lakhs for training for impending Olympics next years, but she spends INR 5 lakhs a month owing to the salaries of coach, physiotherapists, dietician and other purposes.
"I exhausted all my money. It is now difficult to get sponsors due to Covid-19 pandemic for my training for the Tokyo Olympics which has been shifted to July 2021 due to Covid19 Outbreak
"I need money for my fitness expenses and training in Germany, I decided to sell my luxury car," added Dutee Chand.
