Sports ministry calls for meeting with IOA and National Sports Federations

Meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of IOA president-sports ministry tussle; National Games in Uttarakhand and other issues too could be discussed.
Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya with the participants of CSR round table for sports development in New Delhi on Thursday
Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya with the participants of CSR round table for sports development in New Delhi on Thursday(Photo | SAI)
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CHENNAI: After the tussle between the Indian Olympic Association president and the sports ministry over the affiliation of two different Indian Golf Union bodies, the parties are set to meet at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on January 21. According to a letter from the sports ministry on January 15, the IOA president and the executive council members have been invited along with presidents and secretaries of recognised National Sports Federations (NSFs).

It will be interesting to see how the meeting pans out especially after the strongly-worded letter by IOA president PT Usha to sports minister wherein she claimed sports ministry officials were misleading the minister. “… (Since) I have assumed office in the lOA, it has become more and more apparent that the staff of the Ministry deliberately never appraises the true and correct facts to the Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports,” said the letter. This was after the sports ministry had sent a letter to IOA for recognizing the Harish Kumar Shetty-led faction instead of ministry-backed Brijinder Singh. The agenda of the meeting will follow.

The meeting also assumes significance after the bitter infighting between the IOA president and its Executive Council members. There has been no Executive Council meeting of significance or otherwise since January last year when the ‘disputed’ appointment of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was made. The EC had claimed that it never approved CEO Raghuram Iyer’s appointment while the president said the only point the EC had raised was renegotiation of the salary, which she claimed was done. Since then they had been at loggerheads. This could also be an opportunity for ministry to set things in order.

If all the EC members and the IOA president attend the meeting, this could be the first time the warring members would be meeting under one roof since the last meeting in September. Though there is no indication as such, it needs to be seen if there would be some kind of attempt to resolve issues during the meeting.

The sports ministry has been speaking about the Olympic bid in 2036, but the Bid Committee, an integral part of the process that would liaise between the IOA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is yet to be formed. While the IOA had submitted the letter of intent to the IOC, it did not mention a venue. A smooth functioning of IOA is also one of the criteria for a strong bid.

The National Games in Uttarakhand also could be discussed with the NSFs.

CSR meeting to promote sports

In its bid to promote sports and infrastructure in the country and boost its sporting ecosystem, the sports ministry met over 40 corporate houses in New Delhi on Thursday. During the first-ever corporate round-table chaired by sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya emphasized a vision to position India among the top five global sports performers by 2047. The sports ministry said this in a statement.

“Each corporate entity should focus on a single sport to ensure dedicated attention and optimal resource allocation, while also enabling effective athlete branding to align with CSR investments and promotional activities,” the sports minister said in a statement. The discussions were also around sports development in different parts of the country right from the grassroots. The minister also urged corporate houses to fund Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) as well.

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