Warnings, politics and Suspension

Nothing can be more humiliating for Indian Olympians, who made Indians proud, by putting up the best ever medals tally in this year's Olympic Games, than the suspension of India's top sports body, Indian Olympic Association (IOA), for not conforming with the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) guidelines. 

 

The suspension ofthe IOA came after repeated warnings of the IOC, telling it to abide by Olympic Charter in its election and not to follow the government's sport code, that sets a limit for age and tenure of candidates. 

 

In last week of November, IOC had sent the second letter to the IOA, telling it hold the election on the basis of Olympic charter and the IOA's own constitution. 

 

When IOC president Jacques Rogge had, last month, askedthe IOA to clarify its stand, IOA was confident that it would be able to convince the IOC that it was not flouting any guidelines by following sports code in the IOA election.

 

IOA's acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on November 23, informing him about imminent suspension. But it tried to make a serious effort to avert suspension only at the last moment by planning to send a two member delegation to Lausanne to put forward their case during IOC's executive board meeting on December 4-5, to convince them not to suspend India. It was too late by then. 

 

Moreover, politics over the IOA's election is said to be another reason for suspension. Even as IOC's ethics commission clarified that Suresh Kalmadi, Lalit Bhanot and V K Verma should be barred from the functioning of IOA as their names figured in Commonwealth Games scam, Bhanot filed his nomination for the secretary general's post. 

 

Now, Olympic sports persons fraternity is fumed over IOA's suspension, as they are the only one to face heat. India's only Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra wrote on his twitter account, "Bye Bye IOA, hope to see again soon, hopefully cleaner!"

 

The Sports Minister Jitendra Singh's reaction, on the other hand, has only implicated IOA. "I had warned IOA to amend its constitution... the problem is that despite of what IOC said , IOA did not amend its constitution," he has said. 

 

As Sports Minister has said that he would talk to the IOC about the suspension, we just have to wait and watch what comes forward. Meanwhile, if Indian Olympians want to participate in Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympics they will have to participate under the Olympic flag until suspension is revoked.