The Winter Olympics kicked off in Sochi, Russia, on February 7 with three Indian athletes set to compete, but no ‘India’ in the picture.
With the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) still suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the sportsmen – luger Shiva Keshavan, cross-country skier Nadeem Iqbal and alpine skier Himanshu Thakur – have been forced to participate under the generic Olympic flag as ‘independent athletes’.
This embarrassment could have been avoided if the IOA, which was suspended in 2012 for electing corruption-tainted officials to its committee, had elected a new committee well before the winter games were to begin. Instead, the election is set to be held on February 9, two days after Sochi Olympics commence.
The IOA now claims that holding the election a few days earlier would have made no difference at all to the Indian athletes in Sochi.
“Even if the elections had been held earlier, it would take at least a month for the IOC to prepare a report about it, present it in their board meetings and then take a decision,” said Tarlochan Singh, current vice-president of the IOA. It would still have been too late, he says, for the Winter Olympic athletes to represent the Indian flag in Russia.
This seems like a half-hearted excuse for not planning the election well in advance, given that the dates of the winter games had been known for several months. Throughout 2013, Indian sportsmen and women in various sports had already been suffering the embarrassment of participating in other international tournaments as independent athletes.
“The fact that a national sports federation has not been functioning for so long is a shame,” said senior sports journalist Ayaz Memon, who believes the Winter Olympics are being given such step-motherly treatment only because Indian participation in them is nominal. “If these were the summer games, they would make sure that athletes could participate as Indians.”
This is just the latest episode in the saga of shame that began with the IOA’s suspension on December 5, 2012. Despite repeated warnings by the IOC, the Association had elected Lalit Bhanot, a man who was out on bail after 11 months in jail in connection with the Commonwealth Games corruption scam, as its general-secretary. This clearly flouted norms in the IOC charter that bar anybody framed with criminal or corruption charges from contesting committee elections.
The IOC also objected to the Association holding its elections in keeping with the National Sports Code framed by the sports ministry, calling it government interference in what should be an independent body.
The National Sports Code, among other things, contains a number of guidelines for electing heads and members of various national sports associations. It fixes a 12-year tenure for presidents and 8 years for other office bearers. It also sets an age limit of 70 years for contesting in elections. Ironically, these guidelines are very similar to the norms of the IOC itself.
“Last year, the sports ministry directly contacted the IOC to say that it was not interfering with the IOA election and that the provisions in its Sports Code were the same as the norms of the IOC,” said Pradeep Magazine, a senior sports journalist based in Delhi. “The IOC wanted the Association to just include the Code in its constitution.”
Meanwhile, the international body also directed the IOA to amend its constitution in a way that would make it absolutely clear that criminally-charged people would not be allowed to stand for elections. On December 8, 2013, the IOA finally responded to the IOC’s ultimatum and agreed to amend its rules.
In the election scheduled for tomorrow, world squash chief N Ramachandran – brother of BCCI chief N Srinivasan – is likely to be named as the IOA president, as he is the only candidate contesting for that post.
He may take the seat soon, but for Shiva Keshavan, Nadeem Iqbal and Himanshu Thakur in Sochi, it is already too late.
With the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) still suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the sportsmen – luger Shiva Keshavan, cross-country skier Nadeem Iqbal and alpine skier Himanshu Thakur – have been forced to participate under the generic Olympic flag as ‘independent athletes’.
This embarrassment could have been avoided if the IOA, which was suspended in 2012 for electing corruption-tainted officials to its committee, had elected a new committee well before the winter games were to begin. Instead, the election is set to be held on February 9, two days after Sochi Olympics commence.
The IOA now claims that holding the election a few days earlier would have made no difference at all to the Indian athletes in Sochi.
“Even if the elections had been held earlier, it would take at least a month for the IOC to prepare a report about it, present it in their board meetings and then take a decision,” said Tarlochan Singh, current vice-president of the IOA. It would still have been too late, he says, for the Winter Olympic athletes to represent the Indian flag in Russia.
This seems like a half-hearted excuse for not planning the election well in advance, given that the dates of the winter games had been known for several months. Throughout 2013, Indian sportsmen and women in various sports had already been suffering the embarrassment of participating in other international tournaments as independent athletes.
“The fact that a national sports federation has not been functioning for so long is a shame,” said senior sports journalist Ayaz Memon, who believes the Winter Olympics are being given such step-motherly treatment only because Indian participation in them is nominal. “If these were the summer games, they would make sure that athletes could participate as Indians.”
This is just the latest episode in the saga of shame that began with the IOA’s suspension on December 5, 2012. Despite repeated warnings by the IOC, the Association had elected Lalit Bhanot, a man who was out on bail after 11 months in jail in connection with the Commonwealth Games corruption scam, as its general-secretary. This clearly flouted norms in the IOC charter that bar anybody framed with criminal or corruption charges from contesting committee elections.
The IOC also objected to the Association holding its elections in keeping with the National Sports Code framed by the sports ministry, calling it government interference in what should be an independent body.
The National Sports Code, among other things, contains a number of guidelines for electing heads and members of various national sports associations. It fixes a 12-year tenure for presidents and 8 years for other office bearers. It also sets an age limit of 70 years for contesting in elections. Ironically, these guidelines are very similar to the norms of the IOC itself.
“Last year, the sports ministry directly contacted the IOC to say that it was not interfering with the IOA election and that the provisions in its Sports Code were the same as the norms of the IOC,” said Pradeep Magazine, a senior sports journalist based in Delhi. “The IOC wanted the Association to just include the Code in its constitution.”
Meanwhile, the international body also directed the IOA to amend its constitution in a way that would make it absolutely clear that criminally-charged people would not be allowed to stand for elections. On December 8, 2013, the IOA finally responded to the IOC’s ultimatum and agreed to amend its rules.
In the election scheduled for tomorrow, world squash chief N Ramachandran – brother of BCCI chief N Srinivasan – is likely to be named as the IOA president, as he is the only candidate contesting for that post.
He may take the seat soon, but for Shiva Keshavan, Nadeem Iqbal and Himanshu Thakur in Sochi, it is already too late.
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