CHENNAI: Of late, there have been quite a few National Sports Federations that are in a state of flux. Either the NSF is disputed or there are intense internal fights going on within. Despite the National Sports Governance Act and Rules that have been notified since January, there seems to be no let up.
Such has been the rumblings within the NSFs that either the sports ministry or the court had to step in and ask Indian Olympic Association to form ad-hoc committees. There are at least 12 Olympic sports that are facing issues. What seems more baffling is that even after the National Sports Governance Act and Rules, the sports ministry is not being able to rein them in.
Recently, the sports ministry had sent a few letters to IOA to form ad-hoc committees in sports like kabaddi, handball. The Delhi High Court, on the other hand, has asked them to form an ad-hoc panel in equestrian. Indian Golf Union has multiple factions. Latest on the list of distressed NSF is the Table Tennis Federation of India. What seems even more intriguing is that the sports ministry had to invoke provisions of the 2011 National Sports Development Code of India while requesting the IOA to form ad-hoc panels.
It is understood that the IOA has been pulled up by the court for not forming the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) ad-hoc panel on time during a hearing on Wednesday. The court through an order dated February 18 had asked them to form the panel.
The IOA, on their part, felt that they are well on course to form the panel soon. “The Indian Olympic Association shall forthwith appoint an Ad-Hoc Committee to take over the administration of EFI. The present Executive Committee of EFI shall hand over charge to the Ad-Hoc Committee within seven days from the date of its appointment,” said the order. However, the IOA has not appointed an ad-hoc committee as of now.
According to an official in the know of things, the IOA is planning to have at least three members (could be five too) in the panel to run the day to day affairs of the EFI, including selection. The court said since the tenure of the EFI had expired it cannot function as an elected body and directed the IOA to form an ad-hoc committee. The IOA is in consultation with the international equestrian federation as well so that there is no objection from their side. Apparently this too is taking time.
In the case of karate, there is an interesting development as well. The sports ministry had written to the IOA saying, “...at present, there are multiple bodies such as All India Karate-Do Federation (AIKDF), Karate Association of India (KAI), Karate India Organisation (KIO) and Karate India.” And the ministry recognises no one. However, it is understood that the World Karate Federation is against forming an ad-hoc panel as they recognise KIO as the legitimate NSF in India. Besides, forming an ad-hoc panel for handball too could be an issue with the international federation. It needs to be seen how IOA navigates through this challenge.