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IOC meeting Govt`s last chance to avert a disaster: Randhir

IOA Secretary General Randhir Singh on Wednesday advised the Sports Ministry not to pursue its "brinkmanship" over the contentious tenure limitation guidelines, warning it may lead to a disaster which is easily avoidable.

New Delhi: Ahead of Friday`s crucial meeting in Lausanne, IOA Secretary General Randhir Singh on Wednesday advised
the Sports Ministry not to pursue its "brinkmanship" over the contentious tenure limitation guidelines, warning it may lead to a disaster which is easily avoidable. The confrontation over the guidelines has reached the International Olympic Council (IOC), which would hear the case on Friday in its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Joint Secretary Injeti Srinivas will represent the Sports Ministry in the meeting which Randhir will attend in his capacity as an IOC member. Husain Al-Musallam, Director General and Technical Director of the Olympic Council Asia (OCA) will also be present on the occasion. "The Ministry has to climb down, there is no way out. Going ahead with the brinkmanship would lead to a disaster, which is so easily avoidable," Randhir told reporters. The Ministry guidelines seek to fix tenures of the sports administrators across the country and it pointed out to IOC`s stress on good governance. Randhir said IOA, which is in touch with IOC, has no issues with good governance and in fact, it was planning to amend its constitution. "We have seen the suggestions and taken note. They don`t need to tell us about good governance. Good governance has nothing to do with fixing the tenure of the National Sports Federation (NSF) bosses. It is all about having good, fair and transparent administration.” "We are in touch with IOC and our constitution is being amended to ensure transparency in finance and team selection, holding proper elections on schedule, having proper athletics and ethics commissions... there is no need for term limitation," said the shooter-turned-administrator who leaves for Switzerland tomorrow. Randhir said IOA always want to work in harmony with the government. "We have been insisting that IOA and government need to work together but they are hell bent on one thing. If the matter is not resolved in Friday`s meeting and reaches the IOC Executive Board meeting later this month, any punishment is possible," Randhir warned. "They have been categorically told to keep the guidelines in abeyance. If anything untoward happens on Friday, that would jeopardise everything, the Commonwealth Games at home and out participation in events like Asian Games and Youth Olympics," he added. "I appeal to the Ministry to withdraw the guideline. The whole issue is going to be a huge embarrassment for the country.” "What they don`t try to understand is that IOC is not going to change its constitution to oblige them. The Ministry has to go by the Olympic Charter, there can be no other way," he said. Randhir also criticised the "government interference" in recent elections in the badminton and swimming federations. "I think there was a lesson to learn from those elections. The government tried to directly influence those elections and interfere. They asked the boards to walk out, which obviously did not work," he said. The Sports Ministry guideline in question fixes an NSF president`s term to 12 years, suggests secretaries and treasurers cannot function for more than eight years at a stretch while advocating a 70-year retirement age for all executives. Put into effect, the guideline would end the reign of long-standing administrators like IOA President Suresh Kalmadi and NSF chiefs like VK Verma (badminton), VK Malhotra (archery), Jagdish Tytler (judo), SS Dhindsa (cycling) and KP Singh Deo (rowing). IOA and NSF officials cited Olympic Charter, calling the guidelines an infringement on their autonomy. The Sports Ministry subsequently sought a meeting with IOC, which invited Sports Minister MS Gill for a meeting on Friday. The IOC, however, insisted that the Ministry would not enforce the guidelines till then. PTI