India back in Olympics fold after IOA agree to IOC demands

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has agreed to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) demands, paving the way for India’s return to the Olympic fold, said a report in Times Now.

The IOA will accordingly declare their 5 December elections as null and void — and will hold fresh elections and an AGM next month. The IOA have also agreed to the age and tenure clause which specifies that office bearers have to be less than 70 years of age, and cannot hold office for more than eight years.

Today’s meeting in Lausanne was the first time that IOC and IOA sat down for discussion, a good five months after the India was suspended for failing to adhere to the Olympic charter.

The run-up to the meeting had already been marred by the dramatic pullout of IOA Acting President VK Malhotra and IOC Member in India, Randhir Singh.

The two decided to boycott the meeting after the IOC agreed to include Hockey India general secretary Narinder Batra and Jharkhand Olympic Association president R K Anand in the IOA delegation for the meeting, in addition to the four-member list that had been submitted earlier.

The meeting was also be attended by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, Sports Secretary P K Deb, Beijing Olympics gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra and Olympian sailor Malav Shroff.

Bindra said on Twitter that the meeting was a good step forward.

It was believed that Randhir’s absence will be a big blow to the delegations discussions with the IOC, but it seems they have given in to the IOC demands.

A hard roadmap for India’s return with emphasis on good governance, ethics and a bar on tainted officials from occupying important positions was also demanded from India.

With inputs from PTI