IOC warning leaves IOA walking a tightrope

A day after the International Olympic Committee issued a final warning to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to get its house in order by December or face suspension, the top IOA officials got together to decide the next course of action.

After carefully examining IOA's current situation at its Executive Board meeting on Thursday, the IOC send a strongly worded letter to IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta and even put on hold IOC Session in Mumbai scheduled in May. If anything, this action itself spells out IOC's seriousness in the matter.

The IOA elections have been due for a year now as the matter regarding amendment of its constitution has been in the courts. The IOA will have to walk a tightrope in following the directives of the court with regard to the amendments and also ensure that it complies with the IOC Charter.

“We are discussing the issue with our lawyers and also senior members of the IOA and will suitably reply to the IOC letter on Monday,” said IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta, whom the IOC regards as the ‘main point of contact’ in its dealings.

“We will have to comply with the IOC guidelines but we cannot do anything at this point because it’s a status quo from the Supreme Court. We have to see how we can oblige the courts and also the IOC Charter. We will host the elections by December. I have asked all the stakeholders to come to me with their issues and we can sort it out,” said Mehta.

On August 16, the Delhi High Court had appointed a committee of administrators (CoA) to run the IOA and bring its constitution in line with the National Sports Code that promotes transparency and good governance in sports federations. The High Court had given IOA 16 weeks to complete its election. However, the Supreme Court ordered a status quo the next day as the Centre and the IOA argued that IOC would not like a third- party interference. Football’s governing body (FIFA) had banned the All India Football Federation (AIFF) over CoA running the federation.

The big challenge for the IOA will be to pass the amendments as directed by the High Court. Important among them are clauses related to the age and tenure limits that restrict an individual to a maximum term of 12 years/3 tenures in the EC and general assembly; abolishing the voting rights of the State Olympic Committees; persons seeking successive re-election for the same post must secure a two-third majority, and allowing only NSFs of Olympic disciplines to be members of the IOA with voting rights. It also directed the appointment of 25% prominent sportspersons of outstanding merit with voting rights in the general assembly of the IOA.

The IOA insists that its constitution follows the Olympic charter. In this regard, the IOC meeting with the IOA on September 27 will be crucial. The IOC has proposed a joint meeting in Lausanne in presence of all ‘concerned parties.’

“The Hon'ble court has raised certain issues on constitutional amendments so we have to brief the IOC on that. The meeting with the IOC will be an opportunity for us to draw a timeline (for elections) take IOC’s guidance on the way ahead and then take the matter to the Hon court to see that we move in the right direction,” said IOA acting president Anil Khanna.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.