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The hopes of Indian athletes to represent their country at the winter Olympics has been hit by a roadblock after the India Olympic Association (IOA) decided that they will hold elections two days after the games open in Sochi on February 7th.
As a result, Medal hopes Shiva Keshavan and three other competitors will thus be classified as independents rather than Indians.
The International Olympic Committee had earlier froze the nation’s membership in December 2012 after the committee consisted of tainted officials in key posts. The IOA agreed to keep the same officials out of the election but rejected the request of Indian sports ministry to keep the elections before the games.
Keshavan, who was preparing for his fifth Winter Olympics said that the decision was shameful and pathetic.
“It is a sad and embarrassing situation that Indian sport has been put in. People around the world know about the failure of our systems and about corruption and bad governance in sports. The essence of the Olympic Games is to ‘represent’ and I feel it is shameful and pathetic for all of us Indians that athletes may not walk under the Indian flag,” he said.
“How does an athlete, after putting in years of hard work in training for the Olympics, motivate himself after he is denied an opportunity to represent his own country? I remind myself that I am a sportsperson and have to stay focused. In my heart and mind, I will be competing for India and representing our country,” he added.
Meanwhile an IOA source remarked that holding elections before the games would have caused many complications.
“The decision to have elections on February 9 was taken at a special general body meeting last month. We would have had to call another general body meeting to change the dates,” he said.
