We will give IOC a clear roadmap for elections: IOA acting president Anil Khanna

IOA acting president Anil Khanna said they had interacted with the IOC representatives in Birmingham during the Commonwealth Games and an official meeting with IOC is scheduled in Lausanne from September 1-2

The Supreme Court on Thursday put aside the High Court’s appointment of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The move has brought temporary relief to the IOA top brass.

IOA acting president Anil Khanna (PTI)

While SC has now listed the matter for hearing on Monday, there is still a long way to go for the IOA to amend its constitution and conduct the elections.

The Delhi High Court, in its order on Tuesday, had set a deadline of 16 weeks for the IOA to hold elections. The elections are on hold since December as the High Court was hearing a petition over IOA’s constitution in violation of the Sports Code. In the meantime, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had sent a missive last month asking the IOA to conduct its election at the earliest.

IOA acting president Anil Khanna said they had interacted with the IOC representatives in Birmingham during the Commonwealth Games and an official meeting with IOC is scheduled in Lausanne from September 1-2.

“The SC order is a good chance for IOA to set its house in order and also to conduct the National Games.

“At the moment, it is important that we don’t get suspended by the IOC. In fact, we don’t even want to get a threat of suspension. We want to tell the IOC that we are a strong part of the IOC. We will brief them on the development and we will have a clear roadmap for the election,” said Khanna, who is also a senior vice-president of the IOA.

“The Hon High Court has given a clear direction to have an election in 16 weeks. It is a long period and it should satisfy the IOC. It means the elections should be over by December 1. The electoral college will be free and transparent and the election will be supervised by a retired judge of the HC. Free and fair elections and a neat electoral college is what the IOC wants.

“We follow the Olympic charter. While we see to it that we have autonomy, it doesn’t mean we are independent of the government. We are absolutely accountable and we accept that,” Khanna said.

Aware of court developments: IOC

The Lausanne meeting will be crucial for the IOA since the IOC Executive Board is set to meet on Sept 7-9. IOC, on its part, has taken note of the ongoing developments.

“We are fully aware of the various court decisions. The IOC Executive Board will be updated about the situation on the occasion of its next meeting (7 to 9 September 2022),” IOC said on Thursday, replying to a query by Hindustan Times.

Notwithstanding the optimism within the IOA to resolve the current turmoil, the High Court order laid out stricter guidelines for the IOA to incorporate into its constitution. The feeling within the IOA was that some measures suggested by the court were 'beyond the purview' of the Sports Code. As per the High Court direction, an executive committee member cannot have more than three tenures, with a mandatory cooling-off period. The Sports Code has a maximum period of twelve years for president and two successive four-year terms for the secretary general and treasurers followed by a four-year cooling-off period to seek fresh election. The age and tenure restrictions will also apply to all members of the executive committee. Also, the HC order has stripped the State Olympic Association of voting rights.

“We agree to nine of the 13 clauses directed by the HC. But certain things need to be re-looked at.

“With respect to the age and tenure guidelines, it has been reduced to 12 years from 20 years (combined). The 20-year period was set after a lot of deliberations. Sport is a different field. To get elected to international federations is difficult. So, you need time to make a mark in international federations. For that, a 12- year period is too little. At this rate, you may never see an Indian administrator in an international sports body.”

Khanna has also served as Asian Tennis Federation president from 2005-2019 and was an ITF vice-president from 2015-19. He took over as acting president of IOA after Narinder Batra resigned recently following a High Court order.

One of HC's directions also includes disenfranchising the state bodies of their voting rights. Khanna said: “The dispute will be of the state bodies and I won’t like to comment about it right now. We will deal with it at the right time.”

The seasoned administrator said IOA and National Sports Federations have put in a tremendous amount of effort and it is showing in India’s performances in international events.

“We don’t get so many medals in different sports had the NSF’s been not working hard. We are passionate about sports and don’t forget that sports administrators are doing an honorary job. Sadly, a perception is created that we are all wrong. Such statements are unfair.”