New Delhi: In a significant move towards resolving the issues that led to India’s ban from the Olympic family, the IOC has asked the Indian Olympic Association to fix a date, in consultation with the Sports Minister, for a meeting before the end of this month at its Swiss headquarters.
Three months after the IOA was banned on the grounds of government interference, the IOC has written back to the Indian body for a meeting to discuss a roadmap towards resolving the issues by way of holding elections under a revised constitution.
The letter was written to VK Malhotra, the acting chief of the IOA before it was banned on December 4 last, and IOC member in India Randhir Singh, who was also the Secretary General before the suspension.
“We are writing to you to follow up on our letter of 14 January 2013 and to renew our invitation to you to come to Lausanne together with the Sports Minister of India for a joint meeting with the IOC and OCA,” the letter said.
“To that effect, we hereby request that you agree with the Sports Minister on a suitable date to come to Lausanne, which should be no later than 31 March 2013, and that you submit a concrete proposal to us by the end of next week,” it said.
“As soon as we agree on a date, we will of course extend an official invitation to the Sports Minister,” said the letter written jointly by Pere Miro, NOC Relations Director of the IOC, and Husain Al-Musallam, Director General and Technical Director of Olympic Council of Asia.
The IOC made it clear that the current IOA dispensation under Abhay Singh Chautala will have no role in the meeting. The Olympic parent body said that the meeting would discuss all the pending issues with the aim to hold a free and fair election under a revised IOA constitution.
The IOA was banned by in December a day before the controversial elections of the sports body for going ahead with elections under the government’s Sports Code. (PTI)
