Facing de-recognition, IOA finally amends constitution and accepts IOC's terms

Bowing to pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), India’s Olympic body has finally gone ahead with the prescribed amendment to its constitution which will ensure that persons charged with any sort of offence will be barred from contesting elections to its posts.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) made the amendment on Sunday during a meeting in New Delhi and the move is now likely to pave the way for the lifting of its suspension and subsequent return to the international Olympic movement.

Tuesday, December 10, was the deadline set by the IOC, by when it wanted the changes to be in force, failing which the IOA faced the prospect of de-recognition.

The IOA had earlier been sticking to its stance that it would only bar persons convicted for a period of two years or more, while allowing the others. The world body however, wanted the ban to be absolute and encompassing any and every person charged for any duration of time.

It is likely to bring an end to the almost year-long impasse between the IOA and the IOC after the Indian body was suspended last December for failing to abide by its own constitution and allow tainted persons to be elected to the governing posts. The Secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, was amongst the main people targeted thanks to his 10-month-long jail stint after charges of corruption were pressed against him in connection with the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam.

Along with IOA President Abhay Chautala, also charged in a similar scam, Bhanot will now no longer be eligible to stand for elections when the next set of polls come around on February 9, 2014.

“The IOA has unanimously decided to amend the relevant clause in its constitution which would bar charge-framed persons from contesting elections,” IOA official S. Raghunathan told reporters.

“Both Chautala and Bhanot said they will not contest the upcoming elections.”, he added.

The advice of the international governing body had not been heeded for a long while until the threat of de-recognition was issued. Also, with the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games coming up next year, the IOA was under intense pressure to set its house in order and support its athletes amongst whom there was growing discontentment.

IOC President Thomas Bach had told reporters during an interview on Saturday that the IOC was considering cancelling the IOA’s recognition if adequate measures were not taken before Tuesday, when the IOC is scheduled to have a meeting in Lausanne, with the IOA’s status one of the discussion points on the agenda.

The effects of the suspension handed out to the IOA have been damaging. Funding from the international body had stopped and officials of the IOA had been banned from attending any Olympic meetings. Furthermore, India’s athletes had been forced to compete under the International Olympic movement’s flag and not the country’s.

Had the IOA not ceded and stuck on to its stubborn stance, the country could possibly have been left without an Olympic representative body and the participation of India’s athletes in international events would have been a major issue.

South Africa was the last country to face de-recognition after its apartheid and other discriminatory policies over 30 years ago.