The mess in the Indian Olympic Association is out in the wide-open with two factions representing the Association in the Delhi High Court. All this is leading to ambiguity on when will the election take place as the last date for the current IOA office-bearers in the ongoing term is till December 14.
The IOA Vice-President Sudhanshu Mittal blames his President, Mr Narinder Batra, for the entire mess when asked why there are two different factions representing IOA in Delhi HC.
"By law as the Delhi HC, the IOA will be represented by Secretary-General. Mr Narinder Batra goes there as an individual party, not as IOA," said IOA Vice-President Sudhanshu Mittal while speaking to ANI.
Mr Sudhanshu Mittal is not only one of the nine Vice-Presidents of the IOA but he is also one of the Presidents of Kho Kho Federation of India and he is also there in the court representing the Kho kho federation as according to him Mr Batra does not want his federation to function autonomously.
"There are two more federations other there in the court one is fencing and the other one is kho kho. Kho kho was being targeted for since long. Earlier also we had filed a petition that is why we intervened. Mr Batra dissolved the Ethics Commission. He was interfering in the functioning of the federation despite the fact that in our constitution the autonomy has to be respected and he was interfering in it. We are in court because we are aggrieved by the illegal actions of Mr Batra acting arbitrarily." said KKFI President Sudhanshu Mittal to ANI.
As per the petitioner in the case of Mr Rahul Mehra, the National Sports Code must be implemented in IOA and Mr Mittal also wants the same and as per him IOA Secretary-General Mr Rajeev Mehta also is in its favour. According to Mr Mittal, it is the IOA President who wants to use it as per his convenience.
"We are in full support of the implementation of the National Sports Code including Mr Rajeev Mehta. That is our resolution. Mr Narinder Batra wants to do things at his convenience. He has also asked for an emergency Executive Meeting Council also on the 19th December. The term of the Executive Council ends on the 14th of December. So, how come one can take a decision on the 19th if the term ends on the 14th. explained Sudhanshu Mittal to ANI.
The IOA VP has also accused President Batra of misusing his powers to clip the wings of IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta and for that, he is calling an Executive Council meeting.
''Mr. Narinder Batra is trying to do illegal things and in that he wants to debar the Secretary-General and distribute his powers. The agenda of the Executive Council meeting is to debar Mr Rajeev Mehta the IOA Secretary-General. Any action by any Office-bearers after 14th of December will be illegal because the term expires by 14th of December because if the term doesn't exist then how can an Executive remove Secretary-General." told Sudhanshu Mittal to ANI.
The last thing that the country wants is the de-recognition of IOA by the IOC which happened in 2014. Therefore, the IOA needs to sort out their differences among themselves.
"The IOA will not face any de-recognition as IOC has given the date of 31st January 2022. So, there is going to be no de-recognition."
The mess in the Indian Sporting bodies is not new but if this mess continues then the court will have to take action and in this way, it will be the Indian sports and their players who will suffer the most. Therefore, the IOA office-bearers should sort out their differences and implement the National Sports Code in totality.
( With inputs from ANI )
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