India, April 30 -- Over 300 elite athletes, including Olympic medallists, failed to furnish their travel bills to the tune of Rs.8cr in the recently-concluded Paris Olympics cycle, irking the sports ministry and Sports Authority of India (SAI). The matter came to light following SAI's financial audit and came up for discussion on Wednesday in Mission Olympics Cell's (MOC) meeting.

A number of MOC members, it has been learned, proposed penal action against defaulters, including deductions from athletes' Out of Pocket Allowance (OPA) -- which is a monthly stipend of Rs.50,000 -- and cash rewards given by the government.

A total of 315 athletes are yet to submit their expenses amounting to Rs.8,78,27,962. Some of the prominent athletes who...