IOA’s formula gets short shrift

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The International Olympic Committee has rejected a compromise put forward by its Indian affiliate on the issue of charge-sheeted officials contesting elections, effectively delaying the country’s return to the Olympic movement.
The Indian Olympic Association, seeking to bypass a suggestion that tainted officials be barred from standing for any of its posts, also struck a defiant stance, saying that the law of the land would prevail on such issues.
At a special general body meeting last month, the IOA had offered a compromise formula to an IOC directive to bar charge-sheeted persons from it elections. The NOC suggested that the sanction be applied only to those who were convicted and sentenced to a jail term of more than two years.
That however, was given short shrift as the IOC’s executive board, meeting on Wednesday ahead of the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires rejected the suggestion and instead asked the IOA to accept all demands in full before conducting elections.
Said peeved IOA president Abhey Singh Chautala, “We can’t go beyond the law of our land. We will make our constitution according to the law of the land. We have clearly told the two-member IOC delegation that we can’t go beyond the law of the land,”
India was suspended from the Olympic movement in December last year after Lalit Bhanot, who is facing corruption charges linked to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, was elected secretary-general of the IOA. Since then, “law of the land should prevail” has been the IOA’s oft-repeated refrain.
But the IOC is not buying that line any longer, taking a strong line in a statement posted on its web site on Thursday.
“The IOC provided the IOA with a roadmap and sent observers to the IOA’s General Assembly (GA) that took place on August 25. The EB heard a report that the GA had approved most of the amendments to the IOA’s constitution requested by the IOC, but one specific clause had not been adopted.
“This clause, which deals specifically with the eligibility of members, is key to the good governance of the NOC and needs to be fully accepted before the suspended IOA can proceed with the elections. An official notification of the IOC’s position will be sent to the IOA,” the IOC added.
Union sports minister Jitendra Singh said on the day that the IOA should incorporate the required amendments in its constitution so that the interest of country’s athletes.
“There are certain issues IOC is insisting on. One of the major ones is ethics and good governance. So, I hope better sense prevails and the IOA incorporate some of the changes, which the IOC has suggested,” the minister said.
“I don’t think there should be a problem in incorporating these changes because it is a part of the Olympic Charter. It is nothing new that the IOC is saying.”
“I would like to request IOA to consider modifications in their constitution, keeping in mind the interest of the sportspersons and not some individuals’ interests. It is very unfortunate that some individuals’ interests took precedence over nation.”