Unfit for Competition: Ashoka Athletes Bemoan Medical Facilities

“The starting players of the team wouldn't even come for training just because of how poor quality the pitch was. They were scared. I would ask them and they'd tell me, “The pitch is not good, we'll get injured.”

That’s Samar Sabharwal, an ASP25, recounting his experiences with the Ashoka Men’s Football team. Samar tore his ACL during a routine training session in October 2022, when his knee hyper-extended after his ankle got stuck in the wet mud of the football field. Krrish Jain, a UG2024, suffered the same fate in almost identical circumstances during the Batch Championships in September 2024. Little has changed over the last two years. Same old football field, same old issues: muddy, uneven, poorly maintained,  and a constant safety hazard. 

While the quality of facilities makes injuries sadly common, a closer look at sports injuries at Ashoka reveals another crucial aspect of the seemingly inevitable problem – the lack of sufficient medical aftercare on campus, affirming it a real crisis. This investigative piece, from writers Aneek Chatterjee and Aditi Gudi of The Edict’s Sports Department, follows months of research and interviews with members across the Ashoka sports fraternity. We uncovered a shocking pattern of misdiagnosis and mishandling of injuries by the Ashoka medical department and infirmary, which not only pointed towards a deep distrust of the on-campus first-aid, medical and physiotherapy facilities but also a growing dissatisfaction with the quality of outdoor sports facilities.

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Sports injuries appear complicated, but really, they’re quite straightforward. Think of the body as a machine that’s constantly adjusting to sudden movements, twists,  and turns. Introduce that machine to an unpredictable surface, and a slippery basketball court or an uneven football pitch becomes a minefield for athletes. When players rapidly switch from standing still to sprinting, or quickly change direction, their joints and their connecting ligaments undergo tremendous stress. Stretch the ligaments beyond their safe limits and the joint will collapse. Simple biomechanics, devastatingly dangerous.

The knee, in particular, is incredibly susceptible to injury. Imagine your lower leg stuck in place (in a muddy field, for example) while your upper leg twists, and you begin to understand how Sabharwal and Jain tore their ACLs. When Jain heard the pop in his knee while playing in the Batch Championships, he feared the worst; but the physiotherapist at the Ashoka Infirmary reassured him, inspecting his knee and confidently ruling out any possibility of an ACL tear. The relief did not last long. Jain, a resident of Delhi, travelled to Vardhman Hospital in Muzaffarnagar the following weekend for an MRI scan. Diagnosis: Grade 1 LCL tear, Grade 2 Lateral Meniscus tear, Grade 3 ACL tear. For athletes, a Grade 3 tear is like DEFCON 1, capable of spelling permanent retirement. Nearly 29% of football injuries happen around the knee: the highest incidence rate, according to a 2020 study from researchers at SRIHER Chennai.

Jain’s confusing, contradictory, and chaotic experience with the Ashoka Infirmary is no anomaly. Athletes have long reported serious shortcomings in the university's medical care. Basic supplies like slings and crutches are sometimes unavailable, while wheelchairs often have rusted, broken brakes and misaligned rollers. 

Varun Bahl dislocated his shoulder while playing for the Ashoka Ultimate Frisbee team in February 2024. With no slings available at the infirmary, he had to construct a makeshift sling for himself with a t-shirt and use that for three days. An MRI scan eventually revealed a complete tear of the glenohumeral ligaments; Bahl still wonders whether better first-aid, or a faster diagnosis, could’ve provided a different outcome.

Interviews with athletes also underscore a high turnover rate of staff at the infirmary, reportedly "six doctors in three years". Athletes have recounted instances where inconsistent and contradictory advice from the medical staff has resulted in disrupted post-injury care. Crucially, there has emerged a reluctance among medical staff to refer students for MRIs even when ligament injuries are suspected. Bahl narrates, “They referred me for an X-ray to check my bone position, but the problem was with the ligament… The doctor [at Tulip Hospital] saw the X-ray and he said, obviously there's no fracture, no problem with the bone - which I already knew.” Why this reluctance?

Of the multiple hospitals in Sonipat that the Ashoka Infirmary has tie-ups with (namely Nidan, Frank Institute of Medical Sciences, and Tulip), none even offer MRI scanning facilities. It’s not that you can’t get an MRI scan done in Sonipat, far from it: a simple Google search for ‘MRI in Sonipat’ returns at least 12 nearby hospitals or nursing homes within a 10-kilometre radius. If the existing medical collaboration agreements clearly lack this provision, why have no efforts been made in recent years to correct this oversight? 

The lack of adequate facilities and consistency in local medical care doesn’t just erode trust in the establishment, but forces many students to travel back home for proper treatment. This isn’t just inconvenient, but particularly dangerous for those who live far from campus, delaying recovery and heightening the risk of further injury. Case in point: Shria Nair, the vice-captain of the women’s volleyball team, is from Sri Lanka. After an ankle injury at the end of the Spring ’24 semester, going into exam season, Nair despaired at the lack of adequate on-campus facilities. Left with no choice, she found a physiotherapist in Delhi and commuted back-and-forth from Sonipat for her treatment. “I think the scary part of the injury was [not] having proximity with my close ones. I mean, one of the worst things about getting injured in Ashoka was basically the facilities… you do have a physiotherapist, but you also cannot rely on it.”

The physiotherapy facilities at Ashoka have long been a source of frustration for student-athletes. They have continually expressed alarm over the limited and outdated physiotherapy equipment, which only includes IFT (interferential therapy) and ultrasound machines while lacking advanced treatments like laser therapy. It’s not just the equipment; Sabharwal's experience reflects a broader sentiment of suspicion and distrust of on-campus physiotherapy. He narrates a particularly harrowing encounter with the physiotherapist: “He told me that I still had an ACL injury; which was quite confusing because I'd literally just gotten surgery for it.” Ultimately, he concludes:  "There's no point going to the physio[therapist]. They're not equipped with the right expertise and know-how."

Tejas Singh, who twisted his ankle and tore his ligaments while playing for the volleyball team, concurs with Sabharwal’s assessment. He recounts: “I don't trust this physio[therapist] at all… I don't think he completely knows what he's talking about. When I went to him, he pulled out his phone, he was browsing Google. “Oh, it's written that if after six weeks you're still not completely recovered, maybe you need surgery.” The pattern of misdiagnoses that are later corrected by off-campus physiotherapists has only further undermined athlete confidence in the university's care.

This past semester has been one of Ashoka’s heaviest sports seasons yet—a season that has left its sports community battered and broken. Injuries have piled up as athletes continue playing on dangerous surfaces with inadequate medical support. It’s worth noting here: the shortcomings of the infirmary aren’t necessarily due to negligence, but rather, systemic constraints. Bahl in fact lauds the infirmary staff for their professionalism in speedily sourcing tetanus and rabies injections for him when he was bitten by a cat on campus. However, this only makes their deficiencies in diagnosing and handling sports injuries more glaring and urgent.

The hiring of Dr. Ajit ahead of the Monsoon ’24 semester has been a step in the right direction, bringing about a far more professional approach. Aadityan Iyer, a regular patient, is glowing in his feedback, “Dr. Ajit knows exactly what he's doing. He's confident, he's cautious, he's not pushing me." Six to nine months is the minimum recovery time for an ACL tear, but Iyer notes that Ajit is setting a conservative timeline of one year to not rush the rehabilitation process. “Even professionals take one year to fully come back to [the level] where they used to play.”

With Ashoka acquiring three new plots of land in the vicinity, the current vision of the University is to provide new and dedicated facilities for each sport. Cause for optimism? Not really. The ambitious expansion plans categorically rule out any major expenses on the improvement of the current facilities. A member of the Sports Department, who asked to remain anonymous, recognises that change is required, but concludes: “Changing these things (drainage, pitch, grass) would be a good short-term solution, but it will be like spending a lot of money for no reason.”

Injuries are part and parcel of sport and life - we know this well enough - but the fear of injury looms larger and weighs far heavier when athletes train on facilities that don’t prioritise their safety. We athletes pour our heart and soul into playing for our teams. Every drop of sweat, every bruise and every moment of pain is worth it because we want nothing more than to wear the red jersey with our teammates and represent our college. We train relentlessly, more than ten hours a week, chasing the thrill of competing, waiting for the chance to showcase our hard work and passion. We pour everything into this game, yet when we’re sidelined by neglect, be it through inadequate medical care or poor training conditions, then the pride we feel and chase feels hollow. We dream of flying high; instead, we keep falling.

There’s no dearth of talent or desire within the Ashoka sports fraternity; sadly, it seems the establishment lacks the dedication and desire to maximise this most valuable resource. With athletes set to continue using the same facilities for the foreseeable future, Samar remains wary about the safety and well-being of his fellow athletes. “It's extremely important that they do something about it for the sake of their own reputation.”  What Ashoka truly needs, beyond the cutting-edge infrastructure, is an establishment willing to acknowledge what it is doing to its athletes, and make #SportsAtAshoka a safer place to be.

Aneek Chatterjee is a member of the Ashoka Men's Football Team. Aditi Gudi is the Captain of the Ashoka Women's Volleyball Team.