India reportedly suspended by International Olympic Committee

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Two officials have told the Associated Press that India has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee because of the interference of the Indian Government in the elections of the country’s Olympics officials.

The Indian Olympic Association failed to stand by the rules of the IOC while holding their elections and so the international body has decided to suspend India, imposing sanctions on Tuesday.

The IOA followed the Government’s instructions instead of sticking to the Olympic Charter and its own constitution while conducting the elections, thereby earning the disapproval of the IOC.

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The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday defied the International Olympic Committee (IOC), saying it is going ahead with elections scheduled for today.

On Tuesday, the IOC had suspended the IOA because of government interference in its election process, a development which puts a bar on the country`s Olympic participation.

The decision was largely expected after the IOA decided to go ahead with the elections under the government`s Sports Code, defying the IOC`s diktat to hold the polls under the Olympic Charter.

The IOA is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today to decide the road ahead.

The IOC had said that the IOA cannot hold elections until all pending issues are resolved.

The international body cautioned the IOA that it should not hold elections until its Executive Board decides to lift the Indian’s body’s suspension.

The IOC had earlier said that it decided to ban India as its Olympic body had failed to comply with Olympic Charter and also allowed fielding a tainted official for a top post in the elections.

IOC Director of Communications Mark Adams told a press conference that India was suspended "due to its failure to comply with the Olympic Charter and its statutes and failure to inform the IOC in a timely manner."

Pere Miro, Director of IOC relations with National Olympic Committees, said no Indian athlete will be allowed to take part in any competition under IOC jurisdiction during the suspension.

"The election process has been tarnished since the beginning. Many different interferences, many governmental rules and their own bad interpretation of IOA statutes," said Miro after the first day of IOC`s two-day Executive Board meeting.

"The IOA has lost all the rights covered by the Olympic Charter. Today, for Indian athletes it is not possible to take part in any competition under IOC jurisdiction. The IOC has always had the intention to protect the athletes. But for the moment, there is no exception," Miro said.

The IOC said that the elections of the Indian Olympic Association to be held on Wednesday will also be "null and void" and will not be recognised by the world body.

"They are not entitled to have the elections and if they go ahead this will not be recognised. What is absolutely clear is that what has happened in the past is null and what happens now is the same," Miro said.

IOC`s its Ethics Commission had earlier directed the IOA not to allow Suresh Kalmadi, Lalit Bhanot and V K Verma -- all of whom allegedly involved in Commonwealth Games corruption scandal -- from contesting the elections.

Bhanot is set to be declared elected unopposed for the post of IOA Secretary General in the elections scheduled for tomorrow, though Kalmadi, the outgoing president, has decided not to contest the elections.

Bhanot and Kalmadi were sent to jail but later released on bail in connection with the Commonwealth Games corruption scandal.

Suspension meant that the IOA will stop receiving IOC funding and its officials will be banned from attending Olympic meetings and events. India`s athletes will be barred from competing in Olympic events under their national flag, but they can participate under the IOC banner.

While it`s not clear how much money in total will be withheld from India, Miro noted that each national Olympic body receives about USD 90,000 a year in direct IOC grants. The bodies receive more money on top of that for scholarship, coaching and other development programmes.

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While the government termed the suspension of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as an avoidable “unfortunate” incident, athletes - though disappointed - have unanimously termed the suspension as an opportunity to clean up the sports body.

Shooter Abhinav Bindra, India`s sole individual gold medallist at the Olympics, tweeted: "Bye Bye IOA, hope to see u again soon, hopefully cleaner!"

Veteran tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi had this to say: "So I got banned, now the IOA gets banned, they say things like these normally happen in three`s. Wonder what`s next!!"

Boxer MC Mary Kom, who won a bronze at the London Olympics, said it would be difficult for her to compete without knowing the fate of Indian sports.

"I do not know much about this (suspension). I don`t have a good feeling about this. I will not be able to give my 100 percent without the Indian flag," said Mary Kom, suggesting India`s possible exclusion from the major sporting events.

Even as the athletes worry about their future, the government chose to put the blame on the Indian Olympic Association for India`s suspension by the International Olympic Committee. With the suspension, India is now in a dubious list that includes Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.



Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said, “The Indian Olympic Association is to blame for the current crisis. We told the IOA many times to amend its constitution and be compliant with the international rules."

Jitendra said that there was no conflict between the government`s Sports Code and the Olympic Charter and the "unfortunate" incident could have been avoided had the IOA amended its Constitution.

"The decision to suspend India was an unfortunate one. But it could have been avoided had the IOA amended its constitution. It is absolutely false to say that Sports Code was the reason behind India`s suspension. There is no conflict between the Sports Code and Olympic Charter," he told a news channel.

He said it was "unfortunate how politicians at the helm of the IOA have handled the affairs of the body".

Former IOA secretary general Randhir Singh said that the IOC`s decision to ban the Indian Olympic Association gives an "opportunity" to clean the mess, and insisted that the international body is not against the country but against the system.

"The mess that is happening today in the Olympic committee needs to be cleaned up. I think what we are heading for now with this suspension is that it gives an opportunity to clean the mess," Randhir said.
"Let me tell you IOC is not anti-India, it is against the system," he added.

Asked about newly-elected IOA president Abhay Singh Chautala`s comment that Radhir was resposible for the mess in the sports body, the latter said, "I don`t like to discuss anybody. For me fighting for the post doesn`t matter. I will move away, tell him also to move away. Let us resign, let us say he is no more.

"He is proclaiming himself as the IOA president on what basis. On an election which the international committee doesn`t approve to," he said.

"You have been told that you can`t hold this election, and if you hold you are not going to be recognised then which presidentship is he talking about. Which governing body or election is he talking about who are going to pass a resolution against me. It doesn`t matter, India is suspended. he should wake up, it`s all over," he added.

Randhir suggested that the mess could be cleaned up if the government, IOC and IOA sit together and sort out the matter. "The IOA has to have the will."

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As scripted, Abhay Singh Chautala on Wednesday was elected unopposed as the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), defying the edict of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to go ahead with the polls.

As if to thumb its nose at the IOC, which has suspended the IOA, the General Body Meeting (GBM) flexed its muscles by going ahead and electing the tainted Lalit Bhanot as secretary general.

Bhanot, who spent 11 months in jail on charges of irregularities in awarding a Time Scoring Result (TSR) contract for the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

The GBM obviously wants to send a clear message to the IOC that it was a one-horse race as 153 of the 180 member electoral college lined up behind Chautala and Bhanot.

The meeting made it clear that it was holding the election following the directive of the Delhi High Court, though the IOC was equally vehement in saying the poll was null and void since it did not conform to the Olympic Charter and followed the government's National Sports Development Code under duress.

The GBM took shelter under the cloak that the election was overseen by a panel of three eminent judges headed by Justice Anil Dev Singh, retired Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court.

Bhanot said he hasn't been proved guilty and had followed the law of the land.

"I have followed the law of the land. I haven't been found guilty till now. I will quit if I am proven guilty," said Bhanot, who was the secretary general of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee.

During the Annual General Meeting, the house passed a resolution that Bhanot be asked to present to the IOC the legal status of his cases.

Chautala blamed outgoing secretary general Randhir Singh, India's sole representative in the IOC, for IOA's suspension.

Randhir, who last week pulled out from the presidential race, stayed away from the GBM and the election.

"Today Randhir Singh is the one who is responsible for the mess in the IOC. Now we will form a committee to sort out the problem. The committee will meet the IOC and aprise it about IOA's position. We will try to convince them and hopefully we will find a solution," said Chautala.

Newly elected treasurer N. Ramchandran and vice president Narinder Batra have been nominated as the IOA members on the IOC.

Outgoing acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra's name was proposed by Chautala for the post of life president and was unanimously accepted by a show of hands.

Malhotra said the IOA had to go ahead with the election because the "law of the land states that if the process for the election has started it must be completed."

"IOA elections were not to defy the IOC. The process had already started and we had to complete it. IOA hasn't done anything wrong. It was a tussle between the IOC and tne government of India and the IOA has unwittingly become a victim," he said.

The new office bearers are:

President: Abhay Singh Chautala

Vice presidents: Akhilesh Dasgupta, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Anurag Thakur, R.K. Anand, Tarlochan Singh, Narender Batra, G.S. Mander and Birender Prasad Baishya.

Secretary general: Lalit Bhanot

Joint secretaries: Anandeshwar Pandey, Raja K. Sidhu, Rakesh Gupta, Kuldip Vats, Rajeev Mehta, S.M. Hashmi

Treasurer: N.Ramchandran

Executive council members: V N Nanavati, Bala Saheb S Landge, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, D R Chaudhuri, Md Mustaque Ahmad, Adhip Das, Rajesh Bhandari, Suresh Sharma, Balbir Singh Kushwaha, Bhupender Singh Bajwa, Ashok Sahota, N.Kumar, Vagis Pathak, R.K. Gupta, Namdev S Shirgaonkar, Sahdev Yadav, V.A Shiyad, Rana Gurmet Singh Sodhi, Vikram Singh Sisodia, P.K Pradhan

IOC members: Narender Batra and N Ramachandran