IOA revokes Kalmadi, Chautala appointments

IOA revokes Kalmadi, Chautala appointments The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has decided to revoke the appointment of scam tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Chautala as its life presidents.The appointments were made at the IOA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Chennai on December 27. IOA president N. Ramachandran confirmed that moves are on to address the issue at the earliest. “The

IOA has decided to resolve this issue at the earliest in an amicable manner,” he told The Hindu.

The move raised a furore, with the sporting fraternity criticising the manner in which the appointments were made at the behest of a proposal mooted by Rakesh Gupta, who was the chef-de-mission of the Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics.

The appointments saw the Union Sports Ministry withdrawing the recognition to the IOA and demanding the removal of Mr. Kalmadi and Mr. Chautala, who are facing corruption charges.

Mr. Kalmadi informed the IOA not to involve him in the controversy and refused to accept the appointment, while Mr. Chautala continued to be defiant and wanted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take the final call.

Mr. Kalmadi faces corruption charges related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Mr. Chautala is named in a disproportionate assets case in Haryana.

According to a veteran IOA official, a meeting of office-bearers was held here on Monday and an announcement was expected to be made by Mr. Ramachandran after considering a few legal issues.

It is learnt that Mr. Ramachandran and IOA secretary Rajeev Mehta are scheduled to leave on January 16 to Lausanne to meet senior IOC officials to seek their guidance after being de-recognised by the Sports Ministry.