IOA to go ahead with July 11 meeting despite opposition

New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association will go ahead with its scheduled General Body meeting on Thursday here to discuss the roadmap prepared by the IOC for India`s return to Olympic fold, despite strong opposition by some members who feel such a conclave will serve no purpose at this stage.

The IOA was to hold its GBM on Thursday following an earlier directive of the International Olympic Committee to amend its constitution by July 15 but now it has to change its plan after the IOC extended the deadline, saying that it would need more time to study the proposed amendments. A top IOA official revealed that the meeting will decide a date for the Extraordinary General Body Meeting which will be called to amend the constitution. "We had called for a meeting on July 11 following a requisition (from National Sports Federations) after the IOC told us to amend the constitution by July 15. Now the IOC has extended the deadline but we are still going on with the meeting," the official said. "We will fix a date of the Extraordinary GBM which will have to be called for the amendment of IOA constitution after the IOC replied on the proposed amendments submitted by us. We will not need another requisition if we fix the date of the GBM on Thursday`s meeting. Otherwise, we will need another requisition from NSFs," he said. He said the members will also discuss the IOC roadmap in the light of the new developments, including the latest letter from the world body. "We will update the members about the latest development, including the IOC letter which extended the deadline, and how to present ourselves to the IOC representatives who are scheduled to come here in the last week of August," he said. However, the decision to go ahead with the meeting has not gone down too well with some of the members, who feel it will be a waste of time and money since no major decisions can be taken. Acting IOA chief V K Malhotra, however, has written a letter to the IOC distancing himself from the proposed meeting saying it has been convened without his knowledge. It is learnt that IOC Member in India Randhir Singh is also not in favour of such a meeting at this stage. An official close to Malhotra has said that the Acting President is not in favour of this meeting since the IOC is still studying the proposed amendments and has not given its views yet. "This meeting has no meaning now since the IOC had said that it would take time to study the proposed amendments. If it is going ahead, those going ahead with it have not asked for my consent," the official said. The IOC had initially set a July 15 deadline for the amendment of the IOA Constitution so that elections could be held by September 1 to pave the way for lifting the ban on India imposed on December 4 last year. But on Saturday, it conveyed to the IOA that it would be able to send its comments on the proposed amendments in the IOA Constitution only by mid-August, delaying the entire process by a month. "Further to my letter of 28 June, I am pleased to confirm that the IOC will be able to send all its comments on the new IOA Constitution by mid-August 2013," IOC Director General, Christophe De Kepper, had said in his letter. The letter had pointed out that the new deadline would mean the Elective General Assembly would also be subsequently postponed, and could now be held between September 22 and 28. "This means that the first step of the process, namely the Extraordinary Meeting to (i) adopt revised Constitution, (ii) elect the independent election commission and (iii) decide upon the exact date of Elective General Assembly, as per the IOC roadmap of 24 May 2013, will be slightly postponed and shall now take place in the period between 22 and 28 August 2013 (considering also the fact that the Asian Youth Games will begin on 16 August)," the letter had said. "As a consequence, the Elective General Assembly shall be held one month later, namely between 22 and 28 September 2013." PTI