CHENNAI: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) drama refuses to die down. On a day when the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was supposed to join the office, the plot thickened and got murkier. The IOA announced on January 5 that Raghuram Iyer was appointed as the CEO after the Executive Committee meeting. But on Monday, there seems to be a stand-off between the IOA president and the nomination committee’s decision on one side and most of the EC members on the other. The CEO nomination committee, comprising IOA president PT Usha, athletes’ commission chairperson MC Mary Kom and International Olympic Committee member in India Nita Ambani, forwarded the name for appointment.
It is learnt that the CEO went to the office on Monday as instructed, but he could not function as there was no designated place to work from. He spent some time in IOA and left.
What seemed bewildering was that EC on Sunday had written a letter, signed by almost all members except one or two including the athletes’ commission, objecting to the appointment. One of the EC members felt the remuneration of Rs 20 lakh per month was too much and the appointment was made without a clear mandate of the EC. Also, the appointment of the CEO was not on the agenda during the EC meeting on January 5. The EC has claimed that under these circumstances, the CEO cannot be appointed. And also the president has not replied to their letters raising those objections.
The president’s office, however, claimed all procedures had been followed during the EC meeting and everything had been recorded. Those in the know said that a detailed reply has been sent to the EC members. They also confirmed that Iyer had officially joined on Monday. According to the president’s office, they had renegotiated the remuneration package as desired by the nomination committee and brought it down by 30 per cent. Some even pointed out that top coaches and high-performance directors in select federations are drawing about $12,000-$15,000 and there have been reports that former All India Football Federation secretary general was drawing somewhere around Rs 12.5 lakh.
The EC members, however, were unmoved. They felt the IOA lacked funds to support such a hefty pay package and that there should have been more discussion on the appointment of the CEO. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already validated the appointment after insisting for almost a year. It said the IOA had to appoint a CEO as per the constitution. This stand-off would once again draw the attention of the IOC before its executive board meeting on January 18. Without an appointment of the CEO, IOA may face sanctions.
