Commonwealth Games organising committee suspends three officials; treasurer quits; sports minister invokes God
Its credibility in crisis after damning allegations, the Commonwealth Games (CWG) organising committee (OC) finally cracked the whip on errant officials on Thursday even as the government sought to bury controversies and focus on the success of the Games.
In what is being seen as a belated damage control move, the committee suspended three tainted officials, one of them a close aide of chairman Suresh Kalmadi; treasurer Amit Khanna quit on his own.
In the Rajya Sabha, Union sports minister MS Gill invoked divine support for the Games, stating: “Time is running out. Proposals to make changes won’t work. We have to finish the (CWG) work now. May God be with me.” With the government and the opposition appearing keen on concentrating on the Games, Gill did not face any critical questions in the house.
“We want nothing to come in the way of the successful conduct of the Games,” said Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan, echoing the sentiment across party lines.
Meanwhile, the OC made heads roll. The committee’s joint director-general TS Darbari, deputy director-general Sanjay Mohindroo and joint director-general (accounts and finance) M Jaychandran, got the axe for their alleged role in the Queen’s Baton Relay in London. Darbari is known to be a close confidante of Kalmadi.
The OC also terminated the multi-crore contract with Australia-based company Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM) for non-performance. SMAM was responsible for bringing sponsorship for the Games.
“We have suspended these officials as they were responsible for the delivery and conduct of the Queen Baton’s relay in London. We are handing over the case to the enforcement directorate for further investigation,” OC secretary general Lalit Bhanot said.
The decisions followed an emergency meeting of the powerful executive board.
Amit Khanna, whose son has bagged the controversial contract for laying tennis surfaces for the Games, announced his resignation on moral grounds hours before the executive board meeting. The executive board has appointed senior administrator AK Mattoo to the post.
“With just 60 days left for the Games, we thought of appointing Mattoo for the job as he understands the working of the federation,” Bhanot said. The three-member panel probing the allegations of financial irregularities had submitted its report to the OC chairman for recommendations, he added.
Chairman Kalmadi, who has been in the eye of a storm in the wake of the corruption scandals and now stands isolated within the Congress party, skipped the press conference.
— With PTI inputs
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