Sports ministry pushes for early meeting with IOC

The Union sports ministry is not relenting in the ongoing crisis over government guidelines for sports bodies.

It has written to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) clarifying its stand, while also asking for an early meeting to sort out the issue.

Signed by joint-secretary Injeti Srinivas, the letter to IOC chief Jacques Rogge suggests that “a false situation of crisis” was being created by officials of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). It hoped that the world body would not take any hasty decision after warning the government of a possible suspension for putting a cap on tenure of officials.

In a direct attack on the IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh, the ministry quotes guidelines and rules of other countries and contends that the matter of guidelines being put in place by the government in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi high court needed to be put in perspective.

“It is unfortunate that the IOC member from India has not even cared to consult us before taking up this matter with you. He is fully aware of the proceedings before the Delhi High Court, as the IOA is a respondent, in the ongoing PIL. Further, as the Secretary General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), he is conversant with the sports legislations of Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

“However, it appears that IOC has not been apprised by him of the national perspective in its entirety, thereby exposing his conflict of interest as well, since he has been holding the post of Secretary General, IOA for over two decades,” reads the letter to IOC chief Jacques Rogges, signed by Injeti Srinivas, joint-secretary of the ministry. 

“We have carefully studied sports regulations prevalent in more than 30 countries, including USA, France, Italy, Hungary, Mauritius, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. These countries have enacted sports legislations, which contain several mandatory provisions that their sports federations have to conform, to obtain recognition and financial support from the government.”

“For example, the US Amateur Sports Act, 1978 makes it mandatory for the US Olympic Committee to reserve 20 percent of membership and voting rights, in favour of amateur athletes, who have represented the country within the preceding 10 years.

“Similarly, the Sri Lankan Sport Law of 1973 prescribes a two tenure limit for the sports administrators; besides empowering the Sports Minister to dissolve National Sports Associations and appoint interim bodies. The Malaysian Sports Development Act of 1997, which was enacted on the eve of the 1998 Commonwealth Games, gives wide-ranging powers to the Sports Minister for the regulation of sports bodies in the country, including the National Olympic Committee,” and says that the guidelines issued here could not be viewed differently.

The ministry reiterates that there is no new resolution and that those of a regulation in 1975 had been liberalised by following norms adopted by the IOC. It also states that the regulations had been accepted by sports bodies at the time, but either not incorporated in their respective constitutions, or deleted at a later point in time.