E-Paper
IOA’s athletes body members complain over not supporting wrestlers
A member of the Athletes Commission reportedly blocked a demand from others to issue a statement in support of the wrestlers citing a privacy clause
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Athletes Commission — a 10-member body formed last November to be the voice of athletes — wanted to issue a public statement in support of the protesting wrestlers on Saturday but were stopped by a senior member of the body, two members of the body said.
The AC met only for the second time since inception on Saturday though boxing icon MC Mary Kom, its chairperson, was absent. The meeting was chaired by table tennis ace Sharath Kamal, who is the vice-chairperson.
Mary was also absent from its first meeting in January, two AC members, who did not wish to be identified, said.
“We were all on the same page. We agreed that the AC has largely failed the wrestlers. There has not been a single statement acknowledging them, neither in January nor in April,” they said.
“So, it was decided we put out a public statement in support of the wrestlers. The letter was drafted but just before we were to make it public, it was blocked,” a member said. The letter had pointed to a “lack of a proper institutional redressal mechanism” and urged the need to “put systems in place to regain the faith of the athlete community.”
“The members of the IOA Athlete's Commission are unanimously and deeply concerned that our colleagues from the athletes’ fraternity have levelled serious allegations against the national federation, WFI, ranging from sexual harassment, sports code violations and ethics complaints,” it read.
“A majority of those who attended the meeting wanted the statement to go out, but since only six members were present, it was not really AC’s majority,” a member who attended said.
Besides Mary and Sharath, the commission members are Gagan Narang, Om Prakash Karhana, Shiva Keshavan, Bajrang Lal, PV Sindhu, Bhavani Devi, Rani Rampal and Mirabai Chanu. Abhinav Bindra and Sardar Singh are ex-officio members by virtue of them being members of the athletes commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) respectively. Sardar Singh, like Mary, hasn't attended any meetings so far.
Mary Kom, who also headed the union sports ministry oversight committee that submitted an inquiry report into the sexual harassment allegations, attended the PC Chandra Puraskar function in Kolkata on Sunday. She did not comment on the wrestling controversy when asked.
Some members of the IOA athletes’ body though have felt frustrated that it has not supported the protesting wrestlers. In January, during the first phase of protests, at least one AC member reportedly wanted to visit the wrestlers at Jantar Mantar to express solidarity but was disuaded by another committee member.
“They were told that the AC should present a united front in public and personal visits in such situations should be avoided,” a member said. “There was also dismay and shock at (IOA president) PT Usha’s comments. The consensus was that such a statement shouldn’t have gone from the IOA president,” the member said.
On Saturday, with the commission about to take its first public stance in support of the wrestlers, the member invoked a privacy clause – Clause 8.9 of the Athletes Commission regulations – to stop them.
“No documents, information, discussion and decisions made at a Commission meeting or otherwise exchanged or agreed in connection with the work of the Commission shall be disclosed to any person before it is disclosed to the CEO and the Executive Council of the IOA,” the clause states.
Commenting on the AC inaction in his capacity as an IOC Athletes Commission member, Bindra said, “As athlete representatives, it is both our duty and our moral obligation to do everything we can for the well-being and safety of the community and importantly ensure the athletes’ voice is heard. Athlete commissions must effectively be able to communicate with the larger community to achieve this goal.”
