With Olympics bid in mind, IOA puts on united front

The warring executive members and the Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha have officially ended their rift. On Thursday, under the guise of announcing ‘Powering India’s Sporting Aspirations: IOA’s Vision 2036’, the parties showed a united face and announced that the executive will work to achieve Olympics success and bring the Olympic Games to India.

However, this sudden truce was brought about due to a rebuke from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and a nudge from the Sports Ministry officials as the infighting could derail India’s bid to host the 2036 Olympics.

The IOC had conveyed to Usha and the officials, who had travelled to Lausanne to present their case, earlier this month to get their house in order, get effective doping control and also look to improve medal hauls if they want their bid to be taken seriously.

Central to this newfound camaraderie is the ratification of Raghuram Iyer as the chief executive officer of the IOA. The 12 EC members had rebelled against Usha after Iyer was appointed on an alleged salary of Rs 25 lakh per month. Despite Iyer agreeing for a fee cut, the stalemate continued with the EC members threatening to bring a motion of no confidence against the IOA president.

When asked about Iyer, Usha replied, “Everything is sorted now and that is why he is sitting here with me. Everything is being conducted the right way. Everything is ratified.”

IOA joint secretary Kalyan Chaubey then confirmed that the EC ratified his appointment on Thursday morning. “We had an EC meeting today and Raghuram Iyer’s appointment was ratified,” he said.

IOA treasurer Sahdev Yadav conceded that there were differences in the body but that is all in the past now. “It was a small bickering and we are back together and everything is sorted now. We had some disputes amongst ourselves but we are happy to be together again,” he said.

It is understood that Iyer has agreed to take a gross salary of Rs 15 lakh. However, the pending salary of Captain Ajay Narang, who is executive assistant to Usha, was not discussed. However, an EC member clarified that all pending salaries will be cleared. “There is nothing to worry here. Captain Narang’s dues and all other dues will be cleared soon,” he said.

Interestingly, the IOA is set to call a Special General Meeting (SGM), most likely on August 11, to clear all pending dues including passing of financial reports.