Apparently, this came after AITA claimed that it had informed the ministry about its annual general meeting held in Indore on September 3, through an official letter
Having been de-recognised by the sports ministry for not adhering to the Sports Code, All India Tennis Association (AITA) is now willing to elect a new president. But they have done so with a caveat that government imposes uniform guidelines on all other sport federations, including the Indian Olympic Association.
The response has come after the ministry alleged last week that AITA “forged its stamps and signatures” after holding its elections in Indore last month.
Apparently, this came after AITA claimed that it had informed the ministry about its annual general meeting (AGM) held in Indore on September 3, through an official letter.
The sports ministry, in reply, denied having received any such information from AITA. But the tennis body produced the letter received by the office of Joint Secretary (sports) Onkar Kedia, as documentary evidence. The ministry, in response, alleged that the signature and stamp on the “documentary proof” are fake and did not “match the signatures of any employee of the JS (sports) office or even the stamp used by ministry”.
It is compulsory for all the recognised sports associations to inform the ministry about its AGMs. And ministry then appoints an observer to make sure that all the age and tenure clauses are followed in toto during the process.
The ministry immediately termed the AITA elections, in which its long-serving boss Anil Khanna was unanimously chosen as ‘life president’, as null and void and asked it to elect the new president within 90 days.
“An action has to be taken against the AITA officials if it is proved that they had used the forged signatures and stamps,” a ministry official told dna.
“I will call an SGM and conduct elections for the post of president but first the government must give us the guidelines as to which amendments we need to carry out. We were the first federation to follow the Sports Code, the age and tenure guidelines,” AITA secretary Hironmoy Chatterjee has written to Ministry on Tuesday to get the clarity on this issue.
AITA claims that it has been following the same guidelines which the IOA adopted before being granted recognition. Khanna was elected as AITA president for a four-year term (2012-2016) after serving as secretary for two consecutive terms. Going by Sports Code, a cooling off period of four years is required if an office-bearer seeks re-election after serving two consecutive terms.
Incidentally, Khanna offered to step down as AITA president after being elected as ITF vice-president. But AITA rejected his offer in one voice. The Indian tennis body said that Khanna did not seek re-election as secretary general after serving two terms. Rather, he was elected as president and for which there were no instructions regarding serving cooling-off period.
Khanna had earlier lost the ITF presidential elections by a narrow margin, but was accommodated as vice-president of the world governing body.
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 "Sports Code, All India Tennis Association (AITA), Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Sports Ministry, Onkar Kedia, Tennis")
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