MS Gill to send emissary to IOC

If the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was hoping to have gained an edge by getting a letter from the International Olympic Council (IOC) saying the Union sports ministry’s interference was a ‘transgression of the Olympic charter’, they were in for a big surprise.

On a day when Suresh Kalmadi met PM Manmohan Singh over the ongoing guidelines controversy and got support from members of the Commonwealth Games Co-ordination Commission, the government announced that it would depute an official to sort out the issue with the International Olympic Council (IOC).

The guidelines, restricting the tenure of office-bearers and setting a superannuation age of 70, were put in place following a writ petition in the Delhi high court which also questioned the government on why it had no control over bodies it had been funding.

The sports ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that it regretted that the IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh, who is also a member of the IOC, took the matter to the world body without consulting the government.

The government was also concerned that the world body too did not seek inputs from the government on the issue. The government said that Randhir had “a clear conflict of interest on the tenure issue, in view of his 23-year-long continuous tenure” in his present post in the IOA.

“The government has noted the contents of the letter and is immediately sending to the highest authorities in the IOC a detailed response on the matter. The government is also proposing to the IOC, that in order to have a thorough and conclusive discussion on the subject, the government would be deputing a senior official to the IOC headquarters at a mutually convenient date to sort out the matter across the table,” said the government statement. Meanwhile, Kalmadi said that the PM had given him assurances of looking into the sports ministry’s guidelines.

“We briefed the PM about the issues that threaten the autonomy of sports bodies. We told him that we did not like the timing of this order with the Commonwealth Games so near and at a time when the Co-Com is in the city to monitor the progress of the Games,” said Kalmadi.

“We don’t want to go on the offensive. The sports minister (MS Gill) could have waited for CWG to get over. We have also told the PM that all sports federations will work hard to make the event a huge success. Randhir has given the IOC’s letter to the PM and he has assured us that he will look into the matter,” he added.

Later, Kalmadi addressed the media along with Commonwealth Games Federation treasurer and Co-Com chairman Austin Sealy, as well as other office bearers of the IOA and the CWG, where Sealy, too, criticised the timing of the controversy. “There have been some distractions here and the timing has been unfortunate. But we have to keep our hands on the plough and take care of the task at hand,” said Sealy, who also indicated that the tenure of officials is generally not considered a problem.

“You may be taking note of how many years we have been in office. I have been here since 1986 while Mike Fennell has been in the Jamaican Olympic Council for 30 years,” he said in his support for long serving Indian officials.