Officials undermining spirit of sports: IOA prez

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha has accused Sports Ministry officials of undermining the spirit of fair play and good governance. Usha in her letter, addressed to Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said it appears the officials have been hiding the true facts from the minister.

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Usha, who was responding to ministry’s letter that said IOA’s recognition of Indian Golf Union led by Harish Shetty will not withstand legal scrutiny, said the letter issued was “procedurally incorrect and reflects a lack of verification of the facts on record and a complete non application of mind by the Under Secretary”.

“Sir, since I have assumed office in the lOA, it has become more and more apparent that the staff of the ministry deliberately never appraises the true and correct facts to the Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports,” the Rajya Sabha MP wrote.

Two factions — one led by IGU president Brijinder Singh and other led by secretary general Shetty — held two different elections. While the IOA gave recognition to the Shetty faction, the ministry recognised the other group.

Usha said the body recognised by the ministry did not meet the quorum requirements as stipulated under Article 22 of the IGU Constitution.

“It is evident that the faction of IGU recognised by the ministry did not meet the quorum requirements as stipulated under article 22 of the IGU constitution. This specific provision mandates the presence of a minimum 10 number of State Golf Associations (SGAs) for a valid Annual General Meeting (AGM),” Usha said in her response.

“It is on record that the AGM and election of IGU held under Justice OP Garg (retd) held on December 15 at the Olympic Bhavan, New Delhi, had an attendance of 21 out of the total 31 SGA’s. Therefore, since the requisite quorum was met and a valid meeting held in accordance with the byelaws/constitution of the IGU, the lOA has deemed the election of the office bearers of the GU at this meeting as valid and accorded recognition to the new office bearers of the IGU,” she added.

Double standards

Further, Usha has criticised the ministry for acting against federations, including Wrestling Federation of India, which is an attempt to interfere with the autonomy of national sports federations.

Sir, I must also bring to your attention the inconsistency displayed in the ministry’s actions. While the recognition of this IGU faction has been expedited based on incomplete report, the elections of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), conducted on December 2023 under the orders of the Apex Court and duly recognized by International Federation of Wrestling i.e. United World Wrestling (UWW) and also the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), continue to face delays in recognition by the ministry,” she wrote.

“The WFI has continued to select and send its teams for all international events of UWW and for the Olympic Games, despite the same the Ministry still holding back its recognition for unknown reasons since December 2023. This has been nothing but an attempt to interfere in the autonomy of the NSFs by the MYAS, despite there being many warnings by the UWW and the IOC including clear directions to the lOA not to interfere in the WFI affairs and no ad-hoc committee for the WFI shall be recognised by the UWW and the IOC,” she added.

Finally, she has requested the ministry to withdraw the letter that granted recognition to the Singh-led faction.