Paralympic body de-recognised

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 9

The Sports Ministry has de-recognised the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for violating the National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI) 2011. Though a letter to this effect has been issued, PCI’s interim president Gursharan Singh and secretary general J Chandrasekhar have said that the association is yet to get any intimation to this effect.

“Yes PCI has been de-recognised and an order regarding the same has been issued,” said a top Sports Ministry official. “They have been found to be in violation of the National Sports Code,” he added.

In his letter to PCI dated September 9, under-secretary Arun Kumar Singh has cited the district registrar’s order that said the amendment of byelaws “is violation of the Karnataka Societies registration act 1960 and rules 1961.” 

In its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on May 4, PCI had adopted a resolution that barred public servants from getting elected to its executive. And by a majority vote, Rao Inderjit Singh was removed from his post as the president. Gursharan was then made the interim president. Interestingly, the district registrar has issued the letter after receiving a complaint from Rao Inderjit Singh and SP Sangwan.

Importantly, the de-recognition order comes a month before PCI’s election, scheduled to be held on October 10 in Bengaluru. Gursharan said PCI had the right to change its bylaws. “We don’t think we are in violation of the code. The Ministry has sought some clarifications regarding the changes we made and we had replied to them in a fair manner. We are authorised to ring in the changes if the majority of the house so decides,” Gursharan told The Tribune today.

He added that the order will have no impact on the upcoming elections. “The order will mean that they will cut down on the funds spent on the athletes. It won’t stop the election process,” he said.

Allegation of manipulation of rankings against AITA surface

New Delhi: The allegation of manipulation in rankings to favour a specific player has forced the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to admit an inordinate delay in the update of their system. AITA recently received a complaint from a parent of an under-14 player that his daughter has been denied the top spot in the rankings because penalty points were not imposed on a specific player for no-shows and late withdrawals on many occasions. AITA, in an unusual manner, also made an early addition of points. The parent said that his daughter was denied the chance to train in Thailand since AITA picked the No. 1 player. PTI

AGM, SGM invalid

In another twist in this fight to wrest control of the federation, the district registrar of societies has deemed the AGM and two SGMs invalid and has called on PCI to convene a fresh meeting.