One association, 2 events; discord in another sports body?

The ‘power-grabbing’ game has gripped another local sports association, and this time it’s Chandigarh Roller Skating Association (CRSA). While one faction held its annual general body meeting today to elect the new house, the other faction chose the same day to honour the skaters who had participated in the Asian Roller Skating Championship in South Korea.

On Saturday, the CRSA held its elections and elected its new house. The election process was attended by an observer each from the Roller Skating Federation of India (RSFI) and the UT Sports Department. As per the announcement, Maninderjit Singh Sidhu is the new president of the CRSA, while other office-bearers are Sarabjit Singh Mangat (general secretary) and Reetika Sharma (treasurer).

On the other hand, the local skaters who bagged laurels at the international level were felicitated under the same banner of the CRSA, but the team was led by Arun Walia, acting president of CRSA, and Harpreet Singh, secretary, CRSA. The felicitation ceremony was attended by the Union Territory Cricket Association president Sanjay Tandon as the chief guest, along with other representatives of this group.

Both events were organised under the banner of the CRSA, but differences emerged as both now claim their stakes over the association. “We have got a clear mandate with two-third majority supporting our team. As many as eight members from the quorum of 12 were present on the occasion, and the new house was elected unanimously,” said Sidhu, who was chosen as the new leader of the CRSA today.

He further added, “All procedures were duly followed by the CRSA to conduct this election. We have invited all our members, including those who claim to have headed the CRSA in the past. However, their absence from today’s event said it all.”

Meanwhile, Harpreet claimed that his team refused to be part of today’s elections. “It was decided to conduct the elections in the first week of August. And, it’s on record. I was accompanying the team to South Korea and returned yesterday. I was never aware of the election date. The RSFI invited me, but I refused. They hurriedly called the meeting. What was the need to hold the elections today? The new president is also a non-skater,” said Harpreet.

Meanwhile, he further added, “As I clearly stated, I was not part of this election. And, will wait to see the report of the RSFI observer. The first week of the month has just started, and the elections could have been organised later with the consensus of the house.”

Notably, majority of the skaters received the intimation about the felicitation ceremony hours before the event.

Skaters felicitated

A total of 26 skaters, along with two officials Sanan Mahajan and Harpreet Singh, who represented the country in South Korea were awarded today.