No organisation for athletes: Elections foremost on paralympic body's mind

The latest controversy to affect the sporting community in India is the suspension of the Paralympic Committee of India(PCI) by the International Paralympic Association (IPC) and the Indian Sports Ministry. The erstwhile president Rajesh Tomar was suspended earlier by the PCI after the recent 15th National Para-Athletics championship fiasco which brought to light the gross mismanagement of differently abled sports persons participating in the championships. [caption id=“attachment_435467” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file photo of India’s Paralympics team at Beijing 2008. AFP[/caption] And sadly because of all this, Indian athletes will not be able to participate in any IPC-sanctioned events for no fault of theirs. This includes the World Blind Games in South Korea next month, the World Athletic Championships and India’s first Open Para Games, scheduled to start on 2 May, which is now under scrutiny and might not take place as a result of this ban. Paralympic Committee of India’s newly-appointed interim President Nale Nandkishor said the de-recognition by the Sports Ministry was expected after its international body IPC banned them for mismanagement. But that’s not all at a press conference held by the PCI, suspended office-bearers were busy plotting each other’s downfall instead of working towards resolving their internal issues in order to get the ban lifted, according to DNA . The press conference was mostly about how sacked PCI president Tomar committed financial irregularities, promoted infighting among the office-bearers and encouraged factionalism. There was no mention of the hardship and emotional trauma the suspension is causing the athletes, or what they are doing to sort out the situation. Sadly, this is a typical day at the office for India’s sporting bodies.