NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Saturday asked National Sports Federations (NSFs) to constitute their respective Athletes’ Commissions within three months or else face action, Press Trust of India reports.
“The House gave approval that instructions will be issued to all the NSFs to constitute Athletes Commission within three weeks. We hope all the NSFs will do this. We will take action to those NSFs which do not follow this,” IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta told PTI.
“Those NSFs which already have Athletes’ Commission need not have fresh elections but those which do not have to conduct elections to form Athletes’ Commission,” he said.
In its AGM here, the IOA also decided to downgrade the NSFs of equestrian and yatching to associate membership without voting rights from being permanent members for allowing individual members to vote in their elections. They have been asked to hold fresh polls within six months.
“We have done that on account of voting by individual members in the elections of these NSFs. IOC charter allows voting by members representing federations or state Olympic bodies and not individual members.” Mehta added.
In another significant decision, the elections of the Kerala Olympic Association was shifted to New Delhi on the ground of government interference. Mehta declared that state bodies which allowed government interference in their functioning will be banned from taking part in any national event.
“If a state federation allows interference from the state government, they will be banned by the NSFs from sending athletes in national events. We have decided to issue strict instructions in this regard,” he said.
The decision was prompted by some state governments having separate sports codes or similar guidelines, which interfered in the autonomy of the state sports federations, like those in Rajasthan and Bihar.
Regarding the faction-ridden Gymnastics Federation of India, the IOA took the decision to hold elections within eight weeks after the High Court accepted the recommendations of the disputes resolution committee of the IOA.
