The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the country’s sports ministry have assured the visiting International Olympic Commmittee (IOC) President Thomas Bach of good governance and autonomy in Indian sports, The Hindu reported on Friday.
According to the report, Bach said panel of experts from the IOC, Olympic Council of Asia, IOA and sports ministry will be formed to study the issues of compliance and autonomy and “to devise a road map on how best to prepare the Indian athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”
“The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has so many times recognised this autonomy of sports without which there could be no international sport. If the same rules do not apply everywhere in the world, then there would be no competition,” Bach said.
“In this respect, we are pleased with the commitment shown by the IOA to make good governance a priority. The sports minister, too, recognised the autonomy of sports. The IOC has made its contribution by offering the expertise to find a solution for good governance and autonomy in accordance to the Olympic charter. I am sure a good solution will come to us in this respect,” Bach added.
The IOC president, according to the report, was satisfied with the assurance given by sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore that “fair and clean sports was the first priority of the government”.
Regarding the plan to scrap shooting from the next edition of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Bach said the Olympics Games were different from Commonwealth Games and that the “IOC has no intention to drop shooting from the Olympic programme”.
Sports ministry denies report on IOC’s mediation
Meanwhile, The Times of India claimed that Bach offered to mediate in the dispute between the sports ministry and IOA over the National Sports Developmental Code.
The revised sports code bars the ministers and bureaucrats from holding key posts in the National Sports Federations and other autonomous sports bodies.
The sports ministry, however, denied the report. “While we had a very fruitful meeting, no mediation was Required, discussed, offered or accepted,” it tweeted.
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