CHENNAI: There is no lack of drama as far as the Rowing Federation of India (RFI) is concerned nowadays. Even as the sports ministry agreed to RFI’s requests for a meeting on February 10 to discuss the amendments made to their constitution and new election dates, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has shot them a letter informing that they are going to take over the federation. Sports secretary RS Julaniya said that the meeting will take place on February 10.
It is learnt that a letter sent by IOA told RFI that they need not conduct elections under the new constitution as they were going to form an ad-hoc committee to take over the federation. Secretary general Rajeev Mehta explained that whatever he was doing was as per instructions of the sports ministry. “This is an order from the ministry. The letter said after January 31, the last date of its recognition, the IOA can form an ad-hoc committee,” Mehta told this daily. On the proposed meeting, he said “Let them (ministry and RFI) have a meeting. That is not an issue.”
However, the sports ministry has been maintaining that the RFI has not been de-recognised and that if they comply with the 2011 National Sports Development Code of India, their recognition will continue. The ministry also said an RFI letter seeking an extension of deadline would be examined on merit.The sports secretary was quite clear on the subject of discussions on Tuesday. He said the RFI president has given a written assurance to the ministry on adhering to the sports code and after due diligence, the request of RFI president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo for a meeting has been accepted.
“The president has assured full compliance and I am sure they will fulfil all criteria as desired by the ministry,” said Julaniya. “The president called and requested for a meeting and I have given her time on February 10.” The secretary also said that the discussion will be on other sporting matters as well. “Besides discussing issues pertaining to sports code, we will discuss the development of rowing in the country. We will also discuss training and preparation for 2024 and 2028 Olympics.”
The ministry had earlier said that the federation’s recognition, that ended on January 31, will not be renewed if they fail to adhere to the 2011 National Sports Development Code of India. This was after the IOA objected to their voting pattern and annulled the elections for not following the sports code. The federation’s constitution allowed proxy voting and three councillors per member/state to cast votes. On January 25, the federation had called for an extraordinary general body meeting to make amendments to their constitution. The meeting went ahead smoothly and the necessary changes were also made. The meeting also decided to hold elections on February 22. The minutes of the meeting was sent to the IOA and the sports ministry.
Interestingly, IOA president Narinder Batra, in an internal communication on January 27, had said that the issue has been discussed with the sports ministry and a meeting will be held soon between the sports secretary and RFI president. “Till such time, these letters from GOI MYAS be kept pending until otherwise informed by me,” the communication said.