CHENNAI: N Ramachandran was on Friday unanimously elected president of the Tamil Nadu Olympic Association (TNOA). Elections were held on May 27, but because of a Madras High Court order, the ballot boxes could not be opened till Friday.
“According to State Volleyball Association, Chitra Pandian was no longer a secretary of the body. He had moved the high court seeking a stay on the elections. While they didn’t put a stay on the elections, the court asked to keep the results in abeyance, so we did that,” Ramachandran said after the counting of votes.
“When the case came up for hearing on June 13, Pandian had withdrawn his petition, so the court asked us to proceed with the results.”
Ramachandran, also president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), was naturally asked about whether there was a potential conflict of interest due to this new role, but he dismissed the suggestion. “No, there is no bar on holding two posts like this. It has been done before (B Sivanthi Adityan). There is no problem.”
The veteran administrator, who promised to talk and listen to all associations in the coming weeks, also shed some light on a possible Olympic bid from India in 2032.
“The government in principle has accepted to look into the possibility of bidding for the 2032 Olympics, but it’s a long process, which could take 6-7 years.”
He also indicated the possibility of the State building an Olympic Bhavan within this term (2017-2021).
Office bearers
President: N Ramachandran. Vice-presidents: Ishari K Ganesh, S Vasudevan, Solai M Raja, M Ramasubramani, TR Narayanaswamy, DV Seetharama Rao. General secretary: JM Fernando. Treasurer: K Rajendiran. Joint secretaries: Balaji Maradapa, A Saravanan. EC Members: AK Karunakaran, M Tamilselvan, Hiten Kumar Joshi, A Saffiulla, P Prabu, S Radhakrishnan, Sendhil Thiyagarajan, D Jayaraman, Appavoo Pandian.