Sends terse letter to Executive Council over failure to hold elections
NEW DELHI: India has been threatened with "suspension" by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) failure to hold elections, due since December 2021, and for outside interference and court battles.
In a terse letter to members of the IOA's Executive Council (EC), the IOC and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have jointly flagged the issue of autonomy and violation of the Olympic charter.
"The IOC and the OCA have been following, with great concern, the latest developments affecting the IOA. It is very unfortunate to note that multiple legal proceedings have been initiated, which have only caused delays and created unnecessary complications so far, while the IOA should have addressed and solved these institutional issues internally, as per our recommendations and the usual approach that prevails within the Olympic movement," read the letter, jointly signed by James Macleod, IOC's director of Olympic Solidarity and NOC relations, and Husain Al-Musallam, Director General and Technical Director, OCA. TOI has a copy of the letter.
"Consequently, we urge you to convene a meeting of the IOA EC, followed by an extraordinary/special meeting of the IOA General Assembly, to review and solve this situation once and for all and confirm the date of the IOA quadrennial elections without any further delay, in accordance with the Olympic charter and the IOA constitution currently in force and approved by the IOC. Should the IOA fail to fulfil its obligations and be unable to organise its elections properly within the coming weeks, the IOC will, unfortunately, have no other option but to consider appropriate protective measures vis-à-vis the IOA, including a suspension, until the IOA can operate as normal and hold its elections," the letter added.
IOC's missive came four days after Narinder Batra resigned from his positions as the president of the IOA and the International Hockey Federation (FIH), as well as the member of the IOC, following the rejection of his appeal to reinstate him as the chief of the IOA by the two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court. Batra's IOC membership was linked to his IOA presidency.
It's to be noted that IOA elections to the new EC were due on December 14, 2021. However, both the Batra camp and another group led by secretary general Rajeev Mehta were busy fighting each other in courts to seize control of the Olympic body.
On the issue of IOA elections, the court has listed the matter for normal hearing on July 26. But, with the IOC issuing the suspension threat for outside interference, it would be interesting to see what step the IOA takes to safeguard the interests of Indian athletes.
