CHENNAI : The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has called a meeting of the Golf Governance Committee (GGC). The idea of forming this four-member body in July was to look after the affairs of the Indian Golf Union (IGU), which is facing the risk of being derecognised for not adhering to the National Sports Code. The IGU does not feature on a list of national sports federations recognised by the sports ministry.
However, the office-bearers of IGU claim to have got an extension. They have been running affairs of the association that looks after amateur golf in the country. According to them, the GGC has never got in touch with them regarding anything. So the IOA’s call to convene the meeting of a committee which has remained non-functional comes as a surprise.
Written by IOA president Narinder Batra on Tuesday, the letter reads: “Secretary General and I would like to discuss and try to address all the concerns of Golf Governance Committee for an early resolution of all issues. All are requested to please confirm attendance.”
Chaired by Kavita Singh, the GGC has Mukesh Kumar, Onkar Singh and Vir Srivastava as its members. Contacted by this newspaper, Mukesh said he was still to hear about the meeting. He refused to reveal if the GGC has had any meeting at all. It could also not be confirmed whether the GGC has a representative of the International Golf Federation as a fifth member, as it was announced when the committee was formed.
“As far as I know, nobody from the GGC has contacted the IGU on any matter,” said IGU treasurer Ishwar Achanta. He informed that IGU officials are running day to day activities, conducting tournaments and selecting teams. They are, at the moment, busy finalising things for next month’s Australian Amateurs.
The IGU continues to receive funding from the sports ministry for participation in competitions overseas.
The problem IGU has is a stay on declaring the results of its elections held in December, 2018. Due to this, they risk being declared non-compliant with the Sports Code. But until that has been done, forming a panel like GGC seems odd. And so does the meeting that has been called.