Sports ministry agrees to follow Olympic charter

The Union ministry of sports has agreed in principle to follow the Olympic Charter and has been asked by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to work in tandem with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) over guidelines on tenure of officials.

The ministry had sent its joint secretary, Injeti Srinivas, to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne where a meeting had been arranged on June 18 with officials of the world body, apart from a delegation from the IOA headed by Randhir Singh.

The ministry had earlier announced a cap on tenure of officials and a superannuation age after being asked by the Delhi High Court for guidelines over a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The guidelines were rejected by various sports bodies, including the IOA, which warned that India could find itself in the wilderness if the Olympic Charter was transgressed over the autonomy of sports bodies.

The IOC has stated that the meeting last week saw all parties agreeing to work together with mutual respect and understanding in order to develop and implement the principles of good governance within the Olympic and sports movement in India.

“All parties look forward to a fruitful collaboration between the Olympic and sports movement in India and the government authorities, which must respect the autonomy of the Olympic and sports movement and take place in accordance with the Olympic Charter, for the benefit of sport and the athletes in India,” it said in a statement posted on its website.

Though the ministry has been asked to adhere to the Olympic Charter, a top sports ministry official told DNA that too much should not be read into the statement.

“The fact is that we have been asked to work things out. We presented our part of the reasoning and emphasised on the fact that we had responded to a court matter. We are now waiting for Randhir(who is travelling abroad) so that we can take the matter forward in sorting out things.”

It is learnt that there is no immediate threat of sanctions against India because of the controversial guidelines and the matter will not be taken up at the IOC’s executive committee meeting starting on Wednesday.