Tenure row: No change till CWG, says PM

PM said there would be no change in the present structure of sports bodies till the end of CWG.

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured that there would be no change in the present structure of various sports bodies till the end of Commonwealth Games. The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be held in New Delhi in the month of October. "We have met the PM and briefed him about the issues that threaten the autonomy of the IOA and NSFs. We told him that we did not like the timing of this order and that too when the Commonwealth Games are near and at a time when the Co-ordination Commission is in the city to monitor the progress of the Games. This controversy could have been easily avoided," Kalmadi told reporters outside Parliament after meeting the prime minister. Earlier, Indian Olympic Association officials along with a delegation of National Sports Federations met the Prime Minister in Parliament to discuss the issue of new guidelines, that seek to limit tenures of sports administrators. IOA Secretary General Randhir Singh and chiefs of Sports Federation entered the premises of the Parliament and were later joined by IOA President Suresh Kalmadi."We have come to discuss the issue with the Prime Minister," Randhir Singh told reporters. The IOA and the NSFs have termed the government move as interference in their affairs and even warned yesterday that the attempts to erode their autonomy may invite international ban on India. The new regulation bars NSF presidents, which includes long-standing IOA chief Suresh Kalmadi, from occupying the top posts for more than 12 years, with or without break, while secretaries and treasurers can serve eight years at a stretch and can seek a re-election only after a four-year gap. Apart from Kalmadi, the regulation seeks to end the more than a decade-old reign of VK Malhotra (archery), Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (cycling), VK Verma (badminton), Captain Satish K Sharma (aero club), B S Adityan (volleyball) and Jagdish Tytler (judo).