Former Olympians urge IOC to keep a check on Kalmadi
Former Olympians and athletes on Tuesday in an open letter asked International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge to protect the interests of sportspersons in India.
Claiming that sports bosses were out to sabotage the Olympic movement in the country they asked Rogge to keep a close watch on the National Sports Federations here.
Former hockey captain Pargat Singh and former athletes including Vandana Rao, Ashwini Nachappa, Reeth Abraham, Sunita Godara and Sriram Singh were among those who wrote to the IOC chief.
In the letter they alleged that , “during the last few decades, a certain section have been using sports as a vehicle to gain political power and to satisfy their greed, keeping sportspersons as mere bystanders”.
The group will also address a press conference in the capital on Wednesday to launch the ‘Clean Sports India’ movement.
“The worst (part) is that these self-appointed sports politicians think and openly talk that only they can manage sports, and not sportspersons like us,” they alleged.
Taking potshots on Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi and Archery Association of India chief V.K. Malhotra, they said: “They meticulously ensure that no sportsperson comes anywhere near decision-making bodies of sports federations... They are misusing the principle of ‘autonomy’ of the Olympic movement for their personal ends.
“NSF chiefs are already under pressure because of a recent sports ministry guideline that stipulates their tenures to a maximum of 12 years, while secretaries and treasurers, having served eight years at a stretch.
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