Tenure issue rages on
A meeting at the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne has not eased the tension between the Indian Olympic Association and the sports ministry over the contentious ‘tenure’ issue.
While the IOA on Thursday claimed that the matter had been settled, the sports ministry refused to back down from its guidelines.
“The IOA believes the tenure issue is a closed chapter now. There is no need for any more debates on this issue. The international committee has made it perfectly clear that no interference from the government’s side will be tolerated,” IOA secretary general Randhir Singh said.
“I was in Lausanne for the meeting last month where the IOC made it clear that the autonomy of the National Olympic Committees cannot be infringed. The Executive Board of IOC was very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting but also stressed that the IOC will continue to monitor the situation,” he added.
The ministry, however, continued to contest the IOA’s claims, maintaining that there was no change in its stance.
“Nothing has changed. The government order of May 1, 2010 continues to stand. The next date of hearing before the Chief Justice of Delhi high court is on August 18,” a ministry spokesman said.
Asked what if the sports ministry decided to stop funding the NSFs, the IOA secretary-general said, “If the government wants to stick to their stand and stop promoting sportspersons, good luck to them.”
Randhir also said that the IOA had already adopted steps to ensure “good governance” in the functioning of the national federations and it has nothing to do with the tenure limitation.
“They don’t have to teach us good governance. We are aware of it and are trying to sort out things. We are bringing in CAS (Court of Arbitration), an athletes commission, an ethics commission,” said Randhir.
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