The Quagmire of IOA

The Imperious and Bizarre Mindset of the IOC: Will Jacques Rogge Wake Up!

The imperious manner in which the IOC is bullying the IOA and the Government of India, in the procedure to be followed for the upcoming elections to be held for the office bearers in the executive committee of the IOA, must be resisted, at all cost by the GoI and wait for the outcome of this defiance and for how long. It is most bizarre that, the IOC, while having the provisions for regulating the age, duration and tenure of the members elected to the executive committee on a 70, 12 and 8 model in its own charter and constitution, is expressing umbrage and interpreting a similar practice by the IOA in keeping with the government’s sports code, as interference in the autonomous functioning of the association. Nothing could be more outlandish, ridiculous and vacuous on the part of the IOC to read into the entire matter, as one of imposing a government diktat upon the IOA, in contravention to its charter and constitution.

The whole story plays out like this, the office bearers of the NSFs and the SOAs / IOA were having it as good as it gets, by hanging on to their chairs in their respective executive committees, for near perpetuity and without accountability to the country and its sportsperson. Age, duration and tenure were of little concern to these sports administration and management aficionados, who were running the NSFs, SOAs and the IOA as their personal fiefdoms, without any regulation from an outside authority, more so the government, through its sports minister. The idea was to reign in these office bearers, who were making merry at the cost of the tax payer and the marginalised sportsperson. Sick with the goings on in these sports bodies, eminent and well meaning sportsperson came together to form an organization Clean Sports India (CSI), as a pressure group to prevail over the government and push it to do something about the goings on in the administration and management of sports bodies, wherein, sports had been largely politicised and management best practices were literally thrown out of the window. The erstwhile sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyyar , made an attempt to do this during the run up to the Delhi Commonwealth Games, but was axed from his charge owing to a fait accompli situation, which then prevailed and India’s prestige was at stake for failing to live up to its commitment to the Commonwealth Nations. The chairman of the Organizing Committee, the bombastic and hot air and nothing else Suresh Kalmadi, was mainly behind this change. It was then that MS Gill stepped into the shoes of the sports minister and saw the conduct of the Commonwealth Games, in an exemplary manner. However his halcyon days were short lived, and in the wake of the tomes of scams which emerged from the office of the Chairman Organizing Committee, he too was eased out from his ministry. It was MS Gill who had the proud distinction to be the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, smelled the coffee and accordingly introduced the government’s Sports Code, for implementation in the functioning and procedures of these sports bodies. Where had he faulted in articulating and codifying, what already exists in the IOC charter and its constitution? It was a management best practice, which had seen the strangle hold of Avery Brundage and Juan Antonio Samaranch, which ran for years and years, as the President / Chairman of the IOC come to a thankful end. This provided an opportunity to young and fresh blood to make a foray into the coveted office of the IOC, and which essentially brought in new ideas and practices, for the good of sport and athletes, round the world. The Delhi High Court upheld the contention of the government, when this was challenged by the IOA, who premised their argument and defence on the escape clause in the charter and constitution of the IOC; forbidding any government or third party interference in the affairs of the IOA. Therefore, while VK Malhotra, who has been heading the Archery Association for more than 40 years and had thus become ineligible on grounds of age and tenure, shot off a letter to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne (Switzerland), informing them about the situation as it obtains and the elections being held in accordance with the government’s directive as enshrined in the Sports Code. This immediately evinced a response and reaction from the IOC, who averred this as government interference, notwithstanding the fact that the same model of 70, 12 and 8 is being followed in their own charter and constitution. A mischief had been played by this blubber nosed politician and acting president of the IOA. How? It also made Randhir Singh, who is the present Secretary General of the IOA, ineligible to contest for any office in the executive committee, owing to the embargo of duration and tenure, which he succumbs to. This brought in the corpulent Abhay Singh Chautala, a politician from the INLD party of Haryana and an associate of the NDA as well as the Chairman of the IABF, into the fray. Keeping in mind the muscle and money power, which is available to Abhay Chautala, all others who had a desire to contest for the office of President IOA, gracefully withdrew from the contest, leaving the field open for him to get elected un opposed, as and when the elections are held in the IOA. Randhir Singh, who is also an executive member of the Olympics Committee of Asia (OCA), is looking at the IOC’s threat to derecognise the IOA, to put pressure on the government and leverage his chances to get elected as the President. This is his only ploy to scuttle the wicked and gross act of VK Malhotra, who could as well work out an understanding with Chautala to let him contest for the office of the President, this time and then pass on the baton to him subsequently, when age will probably take its toll and have him tottering and unlikely to hold the same office.

So how does the scenario, unfold itself, in light of the calculus which exists in the IOA? Jacques Rogge the Chairman of the IOC is hell bent on bullying the Indian Government and behaves in a most imperious manner by arm twisting it by the threat of de recognising the IOA, and to follow its policy on non interference in the affairs of the IOA, even when its take on the matter of age, duration and tenure is congruent to what the Sports Code encapsulates. VK Malhotra, the wily old fox of politics, is licking his jowls on the sidelines to see what happens and give him a very probable and likely chance to become the President of IOA. Chautala is keeping his cards close to his chest and is planning on how to upstage both Malhotra and Randhir, depending on how things play out in the National and International domains. And, the shameless, Lalit Bhanot has his fate in the future executive committee, very closely linked to the fortunes of Chautala.

I, would rather prefer that, the government dig its heels on the issue and see how it can manage the crisis which engulfs Indian Sport. When a push becomes a shove, it demands of our government to show its strength against the colonial mindset of the IOC. Should the government give in to the most unrealistic appeal and action of the IOC, it would have surrendered an excellent opportunity to cleanse Indian Sport of rampant politicking and unscrupulous politicians, who exploit the forum for expediency than genuine love for sports.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

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