Sports ministry asks IOA to negotiate for reduction of lifting fine

Barely 10 days before the deadline for India to pay a hefty $3,75,000 doping fine, sports ministry today asked Commonwealth Games organisers and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to impress upon International Weightlifting Federation for reduction of the penalty amount and re-scheduling of payments.

Indian Weightlifting Federation was fined $5 lakh after six lifters tested positive last year and the national body has paid $1,25,000 from its resources in two installments. It had asked IOA and the ministry an interest free loan of Rs1 crore each to pay the fine by August 31 deadline.

The ministry has written to Commonwealth Games organising OC and IOA to sort out the issue by asking International Weightlifting Federation for reduction of the "prohibitive" fine and rescheduling of the payment so that Indian lifters can take part in the CWG and Asian Games in China in November.

"The federation has paid $1,25,000 by borrowing from different sources and have expressed their inability to raise the remaining amount. Under these circumstances, it is the primary obligation of IOA as a National Olympic Committee and the organising committee for the Delhi CWG to ensure that the Indian teams participate in all sports disciplines and all events," said a letter written by joint secretary sports Injeti Srinivas to IOA chief Suresh Kalmadi.

"Kindly take up this matter urgently with International Olympic Committee and International Weightlifting Federation for substantial reduction of penalty amount and rescheduling the payment," said the letter a copy of which was also marked to CGF chief Michael Fennell and IOC NOC relations director Pere Miro.

The sports ministry also asked the IOA to "consider appropriate measures to help the federation tide over the present crisis, especially since the present management is not guilty of dope-related offences that took place earlier for which the previous management has taken moral responsibility and resigned".

The letter said that the matter was taken up by sports minister MS Gill with Fennell when the latter was in New Delhi for a two-day stock-taking visit of the Commonwealth Games.

"This matter also came up for discussion during the meeting of CGF president (Michael Fennell), CEO CGF (Mike Hooper) and you had with the sports minister on August 19 in which the minister had observed that the penalty imposed was prohibitive and far beyond the capacity of the federation," the letter said.

"Notwithstanding your assurances (to sort out the issue), we have been receiving repeated SoSs from the national federation that IOA is yet to come to their rescue which is posing a real threat to the participation of Indian weightlifting team in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games," it said.

"We believed that the IOA will ensure that innocent athletes do not suffer due to inaction in this regard," the letter said.