JOIN USProvisional affiliation for 5 NSFs
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Thursday granted ‘provisional affiliation’ with voting rights to five National Sports Federations whose disciplines are a part of the Olympic Games.
The five-member committee comprising GS Mander, RK Anand, BP Baishya, VD Nanavati and Ashutosh Sharma presented its report in the special General Body Meeting on the day and recommended the names of four federations for affiliation -- Ice Skating Association of India, Ice Hockey Association of India, Indian Amateur Luge Association and The Indian Golf Union. However, at the insistence of the house, Modern Pentathlon was also included. All of them will have the affiliation for one year.
The development took place following International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) directive that General Council of IOA should have majority of the federations whose disciplines are a part of the Olympic Games ahead of its scheduled elections on November 25. Each of these federations will have three votes.
The committee had two meetings on October 8 and 15 to examine the documents submitted by the federations but found none of them meeting the criteria for the affiliation. However, they decided to relax the criteria “without compromising the basic principle of granting affiliation.” The committee then selected the federations who satisfied most of the criteria.
During the one-year period, the selected federations will need to fulfill the provisions of the IOA constitution and some may even need to modify their constitutions. In case they fail to meet the conditions within the period of one year, they face the risk of being disaffiliated.
“Earlier we used to give affiliations to the sports with participation in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. But as per the IOC directive, we decided to grant affiliations to five federations even though none of them met the criteria,” IOA Acting President VK Malhotra told reporters on Thursday.
“If they failed to meet the requirements in one year, they will be disaffiliated.”
The meeting also appointed Malhotra to form a three-member election commission, including a returning officer, to observe the IOA polls which are slated for November 25.
Bhanot to contest?
Former Athletics Federation of India (AFI) secretary Lalit Bhanot is mulling to contest for IOA secretary-general’s post. When asked, Bhanot did not rule out the possibility. “If people will want me to contest, I will. We will discuss the matter and then take a decision,” Bhanot said.
Bhanot along with Suresh Kalmadi and VK Verma, was charged for corruption in the 2010 Commonwealth Games with the IOC Ethics Commission recently recommending their suspension from all IOA responsibilities. The commission also recommended a bar on their participation in elections.