NEW DELHI: The sports ministry has submitted to the court the names of National Sports Federations (NSFs) which have been granted annual recognition and the 54-strong list does not include the likes of Archery Association of India (AAI), Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), Rowing Federation of India (RFI) and School Games Federation of India (SGFI) among others.
It was assumed that the AAI would be recognised after they held elections in January which was attended by observers from World Archery, sports ministry and Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
The compliance reports were sent to the Delhi High Court but a combination of the special bench being disbanded and the coronavirus-enforced lockdown has meant the court is yet to look into the matter.
“The AAI case was being heard by a special bench of the Delhi High Court. While a couple of hearings did not happen due to other important matters, Justice Murlidhar’s transfer also resulted in the delay. After that the lockdown started and no hearings could take place. Otherwise, AAI getting recognition was a matter of time as all due procedures were followed and all observers were happy with the poll procedure,” a AAI official told this newspaper.
The next date of hearing for the matter is on June 24 and once the court puts a stamp on the reports, the reports will be transferred to the sports ministry after which the list might get amended. Interestingly, this year’s annual recognition list is only valid till September which has prompted questions from IOA president Narinder Batra.AAI was derecognised back in In December 2012 for not following the National Sports Development Code (NSDC) in its elections.