NEW DELHI: After more than five months, World Archery have decided to conditionally lift the suspension they placed on the embattled Archery Association of India after they received a positive report from their observer regarding the recently concluded elections.
The WA Executive Board, through an electronic vote, unanimously decided to conditionally lift the ban and as of Thursday, Indian archers are allowed to take part in international events under their national flag as well as concentrate on their Olympic preparations.
Indian archers have had to participate under the WA flag in the Asian Championships last year while being barred from taking part in the South Asian Games. India have won a men’s team quota and an individual women’s quota so far for Tokyo Olympics. WA secretary general Tom Dielen said: “We hope this is the start of a well-governed association in India and will help, where necessary, to develop the strategy that will accomplish this.”
In a letter addressed to new AAI president Arjun Munda, Dielen congratulated him before going on to point out the conditions that the newly elected body needs to adhere to to ensure that the suspension is fully lifted.
The federation has been instructed to update its constitution to clarify athlete membership, develop a strategic plan and resolve other governance issues. A progress report is required every three months.
“The newly elected board needs to work on a new Constitution that addresses the matter of membership of athletes that is currently not covered and which is essential for the AAI to remain a member,” Dielen said in the letter, accessed by this daily.
According to a member of the AAI Executive Council, a committee will be constituted during the next General Body meeting to look into this issue. "It’s not such a big issue. We’ve had discussions with them in the past regarding this aspect in order to clarify the matter."
The WA letter further read, "There are other constitutional matters that still need to be addressed to have the association receive once more the recognition of the Government of India and there is also the matter of the inclusion of one of the states that was pending resolution of the current process."
The state in question is Telangana and a call will be taken soon on the issue of their affiliation. The matter had escalated during the ill-fated elections conducted under Court-appointed administrator Dr SY Quraishi. WA further asked the president to "inform WA on the process of the next General Assembly which should adopt this new constitution".