IOA-IOC meet likely to be postponed for the second time

The joint meeting between the representatives of the IOA, the Sports Ministry and the IOC is likely to get postponed for the second time in two months.

New Delhi: The joint meeting between the representatives of the suspended IOA, the Sports Ministry and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to find a way in resolving the issue that led to India`s ban from the Olympics, is likely to get postponed for the second time in two months.

The meeting scheduled to be held at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland on April 15 and 16, hangs in uncertainty now as the representatives of the Indian Olympic Association, V K Malhotra and Randhir Singh, and the Sports Ministry have not made headway over differences in age and tenure cap of officials, who head the Sports Federations. The IOC suspended the IOA after the government tried to introduce age and tenure guidelines, which amounted to the violation of the Olympic Charter. When contacted acting IOA president V K Malhotra confirmed that the meeting might not see the light of the day this month. Malhotra said that he will write to the Sports Ministry and IOC on Wednesday to give the IOA more time to have a meaningful discussion over the differences. "The meeting will not happen this month because we are yet to thrash out our differences. There is no point in meeting the IOC officials before ironing out our own issues," Malhotra said. "We need to set our house in order first before meeting IOC officials. I will write to the Sports Ministry today and also inform the IOC about the current situation. I will request the IOC to reschedule the meeting," he said. The meeting, which got postponed last month over the same issue, was supposed to be attended by Malhotra, IOC`s representative in India Randhir Singh, Sports Secretary P K Deb from the government`s side, Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra and Yachting Association of India`s Malav Shroff. PTI