IOC pointing out ‘number of issues’ affecting sports federations embarrassing for India

CHENNAI: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has once again reminded the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) of its responsibility to appoint a chief executive officer. It’s been over seven months now since the IOA election took place but, somehow, the body has not been able to appoint a CEO. What seems more intriguing is that it seems to be happy to function with an acting CEO, which according to the newly-amended constitution, is not allowed.

What should be more disconcerting is the other portion of the statement where it talks about other national sports federations (NSFs) in India. “In addition, the NOC of India has been requested to liaise and work closely with the International Federations (IFs) in order to address a number of ongoing issues affecting Indian Sports Federations, in a coordinated manner and in accordance with the rules and directives of the International Federations concerned. This includes, in particular, the situation of the Wrestling Federation in India (WFI),” said the IOC.

This shows that the Indian sports administration is in a mess right now. Apart from the federations that are managed by seasoned administrators, most of the newly-created NSFs are having problems, especially with IFs. Even the NSFs that are run well are not comfortable with the way things are panning out after the IOA elections. There is a trust deficit among NSFs and it’s growing.

Some NSFs like taekwondo, volleyball, basketball, handball and table tennis to name a few are in turmoil over power-sharing, control and factionalism. For instance, Taekwondo has two federations – India Taekwondo and Taekwondo Federation of India. While IT is recognized by the IF, the other newly-elected body is not. Not just TFI, but some of the recently-elected bodies are also facing problems as IOA doesn’t know what to do. There have been occasions when a winter sport’s newly-elected body was not recognized by the IOA over the president’s candidate. Of late, the sports ministry and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) are taking a keen interest in the elections of NSFs, including WFI. In fact, the election dates were extended without any reason and given time for Electoral College manipulations. It’s early days, but the federation is heading towards a disaster. Like always it’s the players (wrestlers here) who are suffering. But who cares?

This newspaper has been highlighting this issue and has also pointed out how the last Executive Committee meeting turned loud when the appointment of a CEO was up for discussion. As of now the joint secretary, an honorary member, is discharging the duties of the CEO. According to the constitution, it is a paid post to be held by a professional with certain eligibility criteria. It is understood that the IOA president is keen on appointing a CEO but there is another faction that is happy with the status quo.

The IOC, in the last communication with this daily earlier this month, had said, “The IOC is in regular contact with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and is aware that the IOA has not yet appointed the new CEO/Secretary General, in accordance with the NOC Constitution. The IOC has urged the IOA to finalise the appointment process without further delay so that the IOA can operate as normal.”

On Wednesday, the IOC once again reiterated its position and said, “The NOC of India has been directed on many occasions to finalise the appointment process of the new CEO/Secretary General without any further delay, in accordance with the NOC Constitution, so as to normalise the situation within the NOC. Unfortunately, the NOC has yet to complete this process. The IOC continues to monitor this issue.” The IOC is yet to meet the IOA over this. Perhaps it’s time for IOA to be more responsible and take hard decisions and not wait to act like the letter from the sports ministry to form another ad hoc committee for WFI.