IOA rejects revised sports bill

A day after the sports ministry came out with a revised sports bill, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Tuesday rejected the measure, saying the government is trying to strangulate the autonomy of the sports federations and hijack the Olympic movement in India.

"This is a more draconian bill, which if passed will shackle the IOA and National Sports Federations (NSFs) and will hit at the very root of the autonomy of the Olympic Charter. We will never be a party to it" IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra said in a statement.

Malhotra said the revised bill was a sheer waste of time, energy and money.

"The revised draft is a part of the malicious and sinister campaign the sports minister has launched against the IOA and the NSFs and we are going to oppose it tooth and nail. I can not even call it old wine in a new bottle, it is a simple charade and if Sports Minister Ajay Maken thinks he can bulldoze his way through, he is sadly mistaken," he said.

"Dropping one para and few lines from the earlier draft and attempts to placate the BCCI does not make it a revised bill," Malhotra added.

Malhotra said major stake holders, the IOA and the NSFs were never consulted while revising the bill.

"There were no discussion between the sports ministry and the federations. The IOA and the NSFs were never asked to put forth their views, objections and reservations. The ministry did not even ask us why we are protesting or what we want," he said.