IOA conflict stalls skier Arif’s scholarship fund for Olympics

The internal conflict within the executive committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is starting to affect Indian athletes. Alpine skier Mohammad Arif Khan, who had earned a scholarship from the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Solidarity Fund, is still awaiting the first instalment.

Arif had earned the scholarship worth $18,000, which was allocated to him to prepare for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano and Cortina. The first instalment of $6000 was transferred to the IOA’s account in May. However, the IOA finance committee did not transfer the amount to Arif.

The committee is chaired by senior vice-president Ajay Patel and has Rajlaxmi Singh Deo, Bhupender Singh Bajwa, Rohit Rajpal, Amitabh Sharma, Monal Chokshi and Lt Gen (retd) Harpal Singh as members.

Arif had made several requests with the IOA officials and after failing to get his issue addressed sought IOA president PT Usha’s help in the matter. Usha wrote a letter to Edward Kensington, continental manager for Asia of Olympic Solidarity — Athlete and Sport Development Division, to release the funds directly to Arif.

“…However, it is with regret that I must inform you that the Finance Committee of IOA has not yet released the funds. Instead, they have questioned the rationale behind Sh. Arif Khan’s selection for the funding by IOC,” Usha said in his letter to Kensington.

“In order to ensure that the athlete receives the necessary support as soon as possible, I would propose that the IOC releases the funds directly to the athlete instead of routing through the IOA to avoid further disruptions to the athlete’s training programme,” she added.

Kensington has now assured Arif that they are in the process to release the funds directly to him. However, in a worrying note, he openly addressed the conflict within the IOA.

“We made a first payment to your NOC on 6 May 2024 of USD 6,000 for your scholarship for the period of March to June 2024. We are aware that these funds have not been transferred to you by your NOC and we have been following up with them on a regular basis. Indeed, due to an internal conflict within your NOC the release of the payment has until now been blocked. Our institutional relations and governance department is working with the Indian Olympic Association to try and resolve this internal conflict,” Kensington said in his letter to Arif.

“In parallel we have now started the procedures for your NOC to request Olympic Solidarity to make the payment of your Milano Cortina scholarship directly to your private bank account. We will keep you informed and thank you for your understanding,” he added.