The unsettled status of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will be one of the key items on the agenda of the meeting of the IOC Executive Board September 7 to 9.
The IOA is facing a suspension from Lausanne over the failure to hold elections for new leadership. That vote was to have taken place last December, by then a year off schedule due to the exigencies of the coronavirus pandemic. A letter from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warning of consequences if delays persist was sent to the IOA last month.
A series of legal actions regarding IOA compliance with Indian law have put the elections on hold. India’s high court this week said it would consider the IOA matter next month, affirming a freeze on the IOA elections.
“We are fully aware of the various court decisions. The IOC Executive Board will be updated about the situation on the occasion of its next meeting,” says a statement from the IOC Tuesday.
The resignation of Narinder Batra as IOA president in July added another twist to this latest episode of IOA disorganization. India was suspended in 2012 over the election of a secretary general convicted of corruption, and then reinstated on February 11, 2014 during the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Suspension from the IOC would mean a loss of funding to India from IOC TV revenues. India would also lose the privilege of being recognized at the Olympics with its flag banned and Indian athletes would be competing under the IOC flag.
The IOC did not comment on whether the upheaval in the Indian National Olympic Committee could affect the 140th IOC Session scheduled for Mumbai May 30 to June 1, 2023. The Session would be the first held in India since the 86th edition in 1983 in New Delhi. A host city for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games is due to be ratified at the meeting.
As if the IOA did not have enough to handle, the NOC’s treasurer is now under very public scrutiny following the online publication of photos of him described in reports as “objectionable.” Anandeshwar Pandey is secretary general of the Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association along with his IOA position. Pandey has called the now viral photos a conspiracy to tarnish his image.
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