On Wednesday, Olympic organizers threatened to withdraw Goel’s accreditation if the behavior did not improve, sending a warning letter after he and his entourage tried to enter restricted areas in the gymnastics venue and the arena where fencing and taekwondo are held.

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“We have had multiple reports of your Minister for Sports trying to enter accredited areas at venues with unaccredited individuals,” Sarah Peterson, continental manager of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, wrote in the note. “When the staff tried to explain that this is not allowed, they reported that the people with the Minister have become aggressive and rude and sometimes pushed past our staff.”

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“Should our protocol team be made aware of further examples of this type of behavior, the accreditation of your Minister for Sports will be cancelled and his privileges at the Olympic Games withdrawn,” the letter continued.

The leader of the Indian delegation called the matter “a non-issue being made an issue,” and Goel said he had done nothing wrong, chalking it up to a “misunderstanding.”

Otherwise, it’s been a gloomy Olympics for India, with zero medals so far. Bummed-out fans on social media noted that Michael Phelps now has as many medals — 26 — as India has won in its history. Several prominent contenders have been eliminated, including shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won a gold medal in Beijing in 2008. He placed fourth this time.

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“Go to Rio. Take selfies. Come back empty handed. What a waste of money and opportunity,” author and columnist Shobhaa De said in a sardonic tweet. But some bright hopes remain, with competitors forging ahead in boxing, golf, tennis, track and field and, yes, badminton.

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The lone Indian female gymnast, Dipa Karmakar, will compete in the vault finals Sunday — showing off her fearsome double revolution “Vault of Death,” the Produnova, attempted by few other gymnasts.

For a country of 1.25 billion people, India’s low medal count has always been a source of consternation. Analysts say there are myriad reasons for this. The national obsession is cricket, which is not an Olympic sport. India has not invested heavily in infrastructure and training for Olympians — Karmakar’s first vault was made from parts of an old scooter.

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Parents have historically emphasized academics over sports. And the sports governing bodies have been dogged by corruption. The International Olympic Committee suspended the Indian Olympic Association for violations of its charter in 2012 because it had elected leaders with pending criminal charges.