The impasse between the Indian Olympic Association and the International Olympic Committee over disallowing chargesheeted administrators from contesting the elections seems to have subsided, with the former managing to “suggest” a middle path at its General Body Meeting here on Sunday.
The suspended Indian body went by the Peoples Representation Act for the Parliament and the state assemblies, proposing that only those convicted by a court for a jail term of two or more years will not be able to contest the IOA elections.
“We have accepted all the amendments proposed by the IOC except the chargesheet clause. We have modified that clause and now only those persons who have been convicted by a court for a jail term of two or more years will not be able to contest elections and will be disqualified automatically. This is the same as in Peoples Representation Act of Parliament,” S. Reghunathan, who chaired the meeting, said.
“The cases of those persons who are convicted for a jail term for less than two years will be referred to the ethics commission of the IOA and the IOA executive committee will take a final decision on the recommendations by the ethics commission.”
The most positive thing which emerged from the marathon meeting was that one of three IOC observers present on the occasion, Francisco Elizaide, said that he was “by and large satisfied” with the decisions taken. He expressed a “positive feeling” and termed the chances of India’s return into the IOC fold as “improving”.
The amendments, if accepted by the IOC, will mean that the likes of Lalit Bhanot, V.K. Verma and Suresh Kalmadi — all accused in the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam — can stand for IOA polls.
The IOC suspended India from the Olympic movement in December and de-recognised the IOA after it elected Bhanot as its secretary-general.
The meeting was, however, not without its share of drama as around 50 demonstrators from Clean Sports India protested against the participation of some IOA officials, some of whom have been chargesheeted in corruption cases.
Inside the conference room too, things did not start smoothly with National Rifles Association of India president Raninder Singh being asked to leave due to a pending court case against the body.
The IOA also accepted IOC’s directive on age and tenure of its office bearers while also agreeing to prune down the size of the Executive Council.