New Delhi: Abhay Singh Chautala is all set to become the new president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) unopposed in the elections scheduled to happen on December 5 after the deadline for the withdrawal of nominations ended today at 5 pm.

It had become obvious last Sunday after Randhir Singh withdrew his nomination for the presidential post, but then it became official today.

It has become certain after the deadline came to an end and many of the officials from the Chautala will also get elected unopposed.

While tainted Lalit Bhanot, who spent 11 months in jail for games related corruption charges will be elected as the Secretary General of IOA, Virendra Nanavati of the Swimming Federation of India is set to become the senior vice-president and Anil Khanna of All India Tennis Association will be the treasurer with no candidates in the fray. 

The three-member IOA Election Commission, headed by Justice (retd) Anil Dev Singh, was expected to make a formal announcement and put up the final list of candidates by Friday.

Bhanot’s appointment to the post might not go down well with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the ethics committee state that tainted officials cannot be a part of the Olympic movement.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials led by V.K. Malhotra met the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Jitendra Singh here today to discuss the impasse that has been created in during the process IOA elections.

Earlier the IOC has threatened that they might go ahead with the suspension of Indian Olympic Committee (IOA) because the latter has failed to adhere to the guidelines laid by the IOC for the conducting the upcoming elections on December 5th.

The proposal for suspension of the Olympic body will be put before the IOC Executive Board meeting on December 4th and 5th.

“It is hereby confirmed that a proposal for suspension of the IOA will be presented to the IOC Executive Board at its next meeting on 4-5 December 2012, based on Rules 27.9 and 59.1.4 of the Olympic Charter,” IOC told V.K Malhotra, acting president of IOA in a letter.

The IOC Director General Christophe de Kepper has warned IOA of strong actions if they do not rectify the problem with immediate effect.

“It was indeed clearly mentioned that a proposal for suspension of the IOA would be submitted to the next IOC Executive Board meeting on 4-5 December 2012 if the situation is not rectified with immediate effect and the IOC is given clear and written guarantees to ensure that the IOA’s elections can be held strictly on the basis of the Olympic Charter and the IOA’s constitution.,” the letter said.

The apex body also rejected Indian body’s request to send international delegates to resolve the matter and said it was something that had to be solved by the Government authorities and IOA, but they could not find an acceptable solution due to lack of co-operation between them.

“The IOC invited the IOA and the Government representatives to a meeting in Lausanne in June 2010 and, since then, has been continuously available to work constructively in order to find an acceptable solution. These efforts have, however, been unsuccessful due to the regrettable lack of cooperation from the IOA and the Government authorities, which has led to the current situation. Consequently, the IOC and OCA will not send delegates to India at this stage.”

“From your letter of 26 November, we came to the conclusion that the IOA and the Government authorities are unable to rectify the situation in order for the IOA elections to be conducted in line with the Olympic Charter and the IOA Constitution, as required by the IOC. It is therefore extremely surprising and – once again contradictory - that you continue to move ahead with the IOA’s election process. The IOA and OCA have already made it clear that such “election process” – if it is held - will not be recognised by the IOC and OCA,” said the letter.

It has also been learned that an IOA delegation comprising Narinder Batra and eminent lawyer R K Anand are expected to go to Lausanne to have a meeting with top IOC officials this weekend to explain IOA stand to the apex body.

By Indian Sports News Network