The IOA’s General Body and Executive Council, which met at Olympic Bhavan here, ruled out amending the constitution to accommodate tenure limitation for its office-bearers as directed by the Sports Ministry.
“The Special General Body unanimously resolved that IOA and National Sports Federations (NSFs) would decline to accept the government guidelines to protect their autonomy in accordance with the IOC Charter and International Federations’ Statutes,” the IOA said in a statement.
“No steps will be initiated by IOA/any NSF to amend their Constitution to incorporate any provisions/part of these Guidelines as this will be seriously in a breach of the Olympic Charter and render the IOA/NSFs vulnerable to suspension and deprive their teams from international participation,” it added.
The IOA claim of an “unanimous” rejection of the government regulation notwithstanding, Kalmadi had his moment of embarrassment when Cycling Federation of India president SS Dhindsa rose to address the gathering. “I hope the (IOA) president would not mind. I have been around for long and, at times, the president functions like a dictator,” he said. Dhindsa, named Chairman of the Commonwealth Village Committee, was particularly unhappy with his nominations for committee members being ignored.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks