CHENNAI: Madras High Court has said the relentless conflict in sports associations for grabbing power and authority destabilises such bodies and is having a detrimental impact on young players.
The observation was made by a division bench of Justices R Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq recently while ordering the formation of a committee headed by a retired judge to handle the affairs of the Tamil Nadu Football Association.
“In pursuit of power and authority, sports associations relentlessly involved conflicts between themselves which not only affects organisational stability but also young players. It would create a sense of lack of clarity in the minds of young sportspersons, lower their morale and defeat their spirit,” the bench observed.
Passing orders on appeals filed by the TN Football Association against a single judge’s common order on the disputes including conduct of an annual meeting and administration of the body, the bench constituted an ‘administrative committee’ headed by Justice AK Rajan, retired High Court judge, to manage the administration.
The committee, which will have R Basheer Ahamed, Harjinder Singh, Stalin Abhimanyu and Kanimozhi Mathi as members, is to hold the reins until a new administrative body is elected and approved by the court.The court directed the committee to convene a general body meeting of all members of the association to address their grievances and set in motion the process for holding organisational election before which, it shall prepare the eligible voters list. The court also directed the committee to ensure that there is no arbitrariness or discrimination in the selection of players.