Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Expressing his support for controversially elected Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Lalit Bhanot, Senior Vice President V K Malhotra said that charges against him for Common Wealth Games (CWG) scam are not yet proven.
“There are so many ministers in the parliament who have charges against them and they have not resigned. So why is there a problem with Bhanot?’’Malhotra said in a conversation with Swati Chaturvedi of Zeenews.com on her show Kahiye Janab.
Neglecting disapproving views of a lot of athletes over Bhanot’s election, he said that till the time his case is in the court, he should not be termed guilty.
When asked why old politicians are glued to theses administrative posts instead of letting former players run sports bodies, VK Malhotra remarked that there are a lot of former sportspersons in the body. He added that sports bodies run by former players are usually a disaster and we can provide required administrative stability.
On issue of supporting Suresh Kalmadi, who allegedly engineered the CWG scam, Malhotra made clear that he doesn’t support him. “He is not a role model for our athletes”, he said.
Justifying his long stay of 40 years in the administration, he said that it is due to his efforts that ‘Archery’ has gained popularity over the years in the country.
On the recent controversy between the Indian International Olympic Committee and the IOA, VK Malhotra expressed his surprise over the fact that everybody was adherent to enforce the sports code. He plainly accused the makers of the sports code and said that he had written letters both to the Prime Minister and Sports ministry to postpone the bill, as it is in conflict with the guidelines of IOC.
He confidently asserted a bright future for Indian sports with a lot of medals expected to pour in. Squashing opinions of retirement, he said that age is not an issue at all.
When asked about a solution to the current fiasco between the IOA and the IOC, Malhotra said, “We are trying and hoping for a solution as soon as possible. I would like the IOC, IOA and the sports ministry to meet and collectively decide the way out”.
