KAA election on hold till Oct

With the administrational issues unlikely to be resolved before the scheduled date, the Karnataka Athletics Association elections could be put off till October.

The elections, which were scheduled to be held at the Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) on July 1, hit a roadblock when the returning officer Ashwathaiah refused to perform his duties alleging “interference” in his work. KAA secretary Chandrashekar Rai had claimed on Saturday that the elections will not be held as planned since it was difficult for the association to bring in a new returning officer at such a short notice.

Sticking to his stance on Monday, Rai said that only the AGM will be held on July 1 and the elections will not be conducted before October. Rai explained that apart from the fact that the current management can function till October according to the amended constitution of the association, many district associations are not eligible to vote as they have remained non-functional for a while.

“Out of the 29 associations, only 12 are eligible to vote. The rest of the associations have not followed standard guidelines like conducting district level meets, AGMs and elections. We will raise this topic at the AGM on Saturday and we intend to give these associations time till October to fall in line with the rules of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). The elections will not happen until our term ends in October. The other topics which will be discussed will be the annual budget, the calender for the new season among others,” said Rai. 

AFI not to interfere

The AFI, mwenhile, has refused to intervene in the ongoing issue unless the KAA seeks its assistance.
“We will do whatever is required as per the constitution. The KAA secretary has to write to us and request us to send an observer,” said Adille Sumariwalla, president, AFI.

Sumariwalla added that the AFI is not legally eligible to directly look into the matter. “We're not legally qualified to look into the merits or demerits of the arguments both sides are making. If both parties can't resolve their issues amicably, then they can go to the AFI Arbitration Panel. All the rules are laid down in the constitution. There is no ambiguity here,” he explained.