IOA rejects Sports Bill, says it infringes on it's autonomy

The executive board of the India Olympic Association (IOA) Tuesday rejected outright the government-proposed National Sports Development Bill, saying it will impinge on the autonomy of the sports federations.

Briefing the media after the board meeting, officiating IOA president Vijay Kumar Malhotra said there are at least six clauses in the bill that clearly point to a government takeover of national sports federations "in the garb of good governance".

Malhotra also accused the sports ministry of using strong-arm methods to force 21 federations to fall in line with the government on the guidelines.

"It is an embarrassment for us that 21 federations have agreed to government guidelines. But they had no option because they were arm-twisted by the sports ministry," said Malhotra.

"They were threatened with dire consequences if they didn't adhere to government guidelines," added Malhotra, who presided over the executive board meeting for the first time after assuming charge as the officiating president following the arrest of Suresh Kalmadi on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy in awarding contract to a Swiss firm for Time, Scoring and Results (TSR) system.

Malhotra, a senior BJP politician and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly, said the bill wants to forcibly shift sports from a state subject list to the central list.

"This is not the first time the government is trying to take over sports. They had earlier, too, but the states stood firm and rejected. The bill is aimed at taking over sports bodies and snatching their autonomy," said Malhotra.

Malhotra pointed out that if the bill becomes a legislation, it will create more confusion.

"We are recognised by all international federations and if the government de-recognises us then it will cause anarchy. In the garb of good governance, the government is trying to implement this bill," he said.

Senior Congress leader and president of judo federation Jagdish Tytler, boxing federation's president and Indian National Lok Dal's Abhay Chautala, and his younger brother Ajay, who is president of the table tennis federation, were also present in the meeting.

Malhotra, who is also the president of Archery Association of India (AAI), said all executive members, irrespective of their political affiliations, felt that every government in power will try to misuse the bill.

"The IOA stands united and we will approach the prime minister. If need be, we will also take legal recourse," said Malhotra.

Secretary general Randhir Singh said the legal team of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also studying all the clauses of the bill and in the next three days it will submit to the IOA a detailed report.

"IOC's legal team is studying the bill clause by clause and is checking the clauses which are against the Oympic Charter. We will forward the report to the sports ministry," said Singh.

Malhotra added that the bill is draconian and against the IOC constitution.

"We will follow any decision taken by the IOC," he said.

Meanwhile, the IOA also decided that the national capital will host the SAF Games in 2012 after consulting the government.

"Since we have the infrastructure here, we will host the Games in Delhi. The Games are held by rotation and we will host it next year," said Singh.