IOA says no to financial assistance from govt

Apex sports body upset with ministerial interference in federations functioning

IOA secretary general Randhir Singh, in a letter dated March 31 to Sports Secretary Sindhushree Khullar, said: “The autonomy of National Olympic Committee of India and the Indian Olympic Association is supreme.

“The IOA would like to desist from receiving any further financial support from the government from the financial year 2010-11.”

“We thank the government for their financial support to the Indian teams.”
The letter, which was circulated to media on Monday, was sent to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports a day after it issued an order asking all national sports federations (NSFs) to immediately designate Central Public Information Officers and Appellate Authorities as required by the Right to Information Act. 

IOA was reportedly unhappy with the ministry’s interference in its  day-to-day functioning.
The government declared all NSFs receiving grant of Rs 10 lakh or more as a ‘Public Authority’ and under the RTI Act, 2005, after taking into consideration various issues, including the fact that the National Sports Federations are doing a ‘State’ function of preparation of national teams for international competitions.

The Delhi High Court January 7 passed the order that IOA and the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) come within the ambit of the RTI Act.