New Delhi: In a letter written to the suspended Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked its national sports federations (NSF) to keep itself away from illegitimate individuals the purporting to act on behalf of the suspended IOA in violation of all IOC decisions and the Olympic Charter.
Reminding the suspended IOA of the number of official statements made by the IOC with respect to the current situation, the letter states that the IOA was suspended by the IOC Executive Board decision of 4 December 2012and spite of this decision, illegal “elections” were conducted, which led the IOC to write two self-explanatory letters on 6 and 19 December 2012..
“As it seems that the few individuals who are wrongly claiming to represent the suspended IOA are consciously and deliberately continuing to act against the IOC decisions and the Olympic Charter, it is requested that you take all necessary measures against these individuals at national level (including any appropriate legal action) to stop their illegal activities with immediate effect and to protect the interests and assets of the suspended IOA,” says the letter, stating that the members of the suspended IOA must not associate themselves with these illegitimate individuals or interact with them in any manner whatsoever.
“In particular, the national federations must not attend any meeting convened by these individuals, who do not represent the suspended IOA. In the event that any federation associates itself with these individuals, in violation of the IOC’s decisions and the Olympic Charter, the IOC will immediately ask the International Federation concerned to take necessary action. As mentioned in the IOC letters of 6 and 19 December, the regrettable behaviour of these individuals is serving only to aggravate the situation of the suspended IOA by adding unnecessary complications, thereby delaying the resolution of the pending issues. They must be held responsible for that before the athletes and the Olympic and Sports Movement in India,” the letter states.
However the IOC in its letter has listed two pre-requisites for it to consider the lifting of the ban on India, which made it clear that the government's Sports Code will have no relevance.
"The suspended IOA must be in a position to hold free, fair, transparent and credible elections without any external interference and exclusively on the basis of Olympic Charter and IOA's Constitution. For that purpose, relevant government authorities definitively amend or repeal any government regulations or laws which interfere with autonomous functioning and internal operations (including election rules).
"... and the suspended IOA reviews its own constitution and internal regulations and makes any necessary amendments, in close collaboration with the IOC and subject to IOC's approval, to improve its internal governance and include proper and concrete mechanisms to ensure good governance at all levels and implement all basic ethical principles," the letter said.
"The conditions are a prerequisite for the IOC Executive Board to consider lifting the suspension of the IOA," said the letter signed by IOC Director of NOC relations Pere Miro and Olympic Council of Asia Director General & Technical Director Husain Al-Musallam.