New Delhi: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended Indian Olympic Association (IOA) with immediate effect on the eve of IOA elections.
The world body was irked after IOA failed to pay any heed to the guidelines laid by the IOC and go ahead with the elections as per Government sports code norms.
The IOC president Jacques Rogge in a letter to V.K Malhotra, the acting president of IOA said that the body is faced with outside interference in applying its election rules, which threatens the IOA’s autonomy and the holding of free and fair elections in conformity with the IOA statutes and the Olympic Charter.
“The IOA has been unable to observe its own statutes and the Olympic Charter and to enforce the basic principles of ethics and good governance. The IOC Executive Board also noted that the IOC, in close coordination with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), has made every possible effort for more than two years to assist in the amicable resolution of these issues. However, the IOC’s position has not been taken into consideration seriously and responsibly by the IOA and the relevant government authorities in India,” Rogge wrote in the letter.
As a consequence, the IOC Executive Board has decided to suspend the Indian Olympic Association with immediate effect pursuant to Rules 27.9 and 59.1.4 of the Olympic Charter until the Indian Olympic Association is in a position to satisfy all the conditions set out in the Olympic Charter and the IOC’s requirements,” he further wrote.
The suspension means that the IOA is no longer entitled to exercise any activity or right conferred upon it by the Olympic Charter or the IOC. In particular, the IOC will withhold any financial assistance to the Indian Olympic Association.
The IOC Executive Board also stated the IOA is not entitled to hold any elections without express prior approval of the IOC and the board reserves the right to take further measures and to take action with regard to the participation of Indian athletes in international Olympic.
By Indian Sports News Network