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Indian Olympic Association
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday constituted a five-member ad hoc committee to oversee the affairs of boxing in the country on the ground that the sport's national federation failed to hold elections on time. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI), within hours, termed the IOA's decision as "illegal" and said it will file a petition to the Delhi High Court to quash the order. The IOA said that the BFI did not hold its elections due on February 2 and asked the ad hoc panel, to be headed by former Athletics Federation of India (AFI) treasurer Madhukant Pathak, to hold the polls at the earliest. "IOA has been closely monitoring the administrative affairs of the Boxing Federation of India. As per the governing norms, elections to BFI were to be conducted on or before 02 February 2025. Despite the prescribed timeline, the elections have not been held, resulting in administrative instability within the federation," IOA President PT Usha wrote in an office order. "In view of t
In a bid to prevent harassment, abuse and other forms of interpersonal violence during the National Games here, the IOA and the event's organising committee on Monday established a helpline to promote safety and well-being of athletes and coaches. The Games, scheduled to open on Tuesday, will run until February 14 in multiple locations across Uttarakhand. "The Indian Olympic Association and the National Games Games Organising Committee have established a safeguarding telephone helpline as part of a focused initiative to promote safety and well-being as well as to prevent and address adverse incidents during the Uttarakhand National Games 2025," said an IOA release. "The helpline will be available to athletes, coaches, and officials around the clock. This is part of our initiative to prevent harassment, abuse, and other forms of interpersonal violence in sports. We have also formed a Safeguarding Committee that will work to prevent safeguarding issues and look into any complaints tha
Chief Justice of India Sanjv Khanna on Monday recused himself from hearing two separate pleas pertaining to finalisation of the constitutions of the Indian Olympic Association and the All India Football Federation, both framed by former apex court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao. At the outset of the proceedings, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), who was sitting on the bench with Justice Sanjay Kumar, said he would not be part of the bench to hear these cases as he had earlier taken up one of the pleas in Delhi High Court. "Let the pleas come before another bench headed by Justice PS Narasimha on February 10. I remember hearing this in Delhi High Court," CJI Khanna said. The pleas were last taken up on March 19, 2024, by a bench headed by the-then CJI DY Chandrachud. The bench had then permitted the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to file its objections to the draft constitution proposed by Justice Rao. "The amicus curiae will update the existing chart to reflect the objections
Playing down concerns surrounding the autonomy of national federations and the IOA if a regulatory board comes into existence, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya has asserted that the body is an essential step towards ensuring good governance and does not intend to interfere in day-to-day operations. The establishment of a Sports Regulatory Board is one of the key features of the draft National Sports Governance Bill, which the government intends to introduce in the Parliament soon. The regulatory body will have the authority to grant, renew, and suspend the affiliation of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and national sports federations, among others. "We don't want to interfere. That's why I did a lot of dialogue, I had a lot of consultations with the federations. I consulted with eminent sports personalities and even lawyers who are against us," Mandaviya told reporters during an interaction on Friday. "We don't want to take control, but we can't leave it unattended. It is the
The feud between Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha and revolting Executive Council members took another ugly turn after a dozen of them shot off a letter to senior IOC official Jerome Poivey accusing the legendary athlete of running the organization in an "autocratic" manner. During Thursday's meeting, there was a bitter confrontation during the IOA meeting where the embattled Usha outrightly rejected their appeal of removing Raghuram Iyer from CEO's post. In a letter to Poivey, the head of Institutional Relations and Governance at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who attended the stormy IOA Executive Council meeting via video-conference, the 12 EC members said they want the the national body to be governed "democratically". Usha, on her part, has already said that the appointment of Iyer was done by strictly adhering to the IOA constitution in an EC meeting on January 5, which was video-graphed, and there was no reason to backtrack from that decision. Th
Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha has issued a show cause notice to the body's Treasurer Sahdev Yadav following a complaint that his election violates the country's National Sports Code. In a letter dated September 10, Usha asked Yadav to give his reply by September 24. "I am writing to you to bring to your attention a formal complaint that the Indian Olympic Association has recently received concerning your eligibility to contest the position of Treasurer in the last elections. "The complainant cites a ruling from Hon'ble High Court, which, according to the complainant, raises concerns about your eligibility to stand for election," Usha wrote in her letter to Yadav. A copy of the letter has also been marked to Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and International Olympic Committee's Associate Director of NOC (National Olympic Committee) Relations Department Jerome Poivey. It has been alleged that Yadav and some other officials are continuing in office in violation of the
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday slammed the Indian Olympic Association over its president's remarks regarding wrestler Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from the Olympics. In a veiled attack on the Narendra Modi government, Yadav also said that if there was an Olympics for political conspiracy, those in power at the Centre would win without competing. Phogat, 29, was disqualified at the Paris Olympics for being 100 gm overweight ahead of her women's 50 kg final bout on August 7. She filed an appeal against her disqualification and a decision on it is expected to come on Tuesday. Drawing criticism for Phogat's weigh-in fiasco, IOA president P T Usha on Sunday made it clear that it is the responsibility of the athlete to manage their weight and the attack on its medical team was "unacceptable and worthy of condemnation." In a post in Hindi on X, Yadav said, "The statement of the Indian Olympic Association about the great warrior Vinesh Phogat that the responsibility of
In a major embarrassment for the country, Antim Panghal and her entire entourage is being deported from Paris for a major disciplinary breach where the young wrestler handed her official accreditation card to her sister who was caught by security while leaving the Games Village. Panghal had crashed out of the Paris Olympics after losing her opening bout in the women's 53kg during the day. "The Indian Olympic Association has decided to fly wrestler Antim and her support staff back after a disciplinary breach was brought to IOA's notice by the French authorities," an IOA statement said. While IOA did not share what the disciplinary breach was, a source shared the details with PTI. "Instead of heading to the Games Village, she reached the hotel where her coach Bhagat Singh and sparring partner Vikas, who is actually her coach, were staying. Antim asked her sister to go to the Games Village and come back with her belongings. Her sister was caught for impersonation and was taken to a ..
Veteran goalkeeper and former India hockey captain P R Sreejesh on Monday announced that Paris Olympics will be his last international outing. The 36-year-old, a veteran of 328 International caps, three Olympic Games, and multiple Commonwealth Games and World Cups, will be playing in his fourth Olympic Games. The latest edition of the showpiece begins on July 26. "As I prepare for my last dance in Paris, I look back with immense pride and forward with hope," Sreejesh said in a Hockey India press release. "This journey has been nothing short of extraordinary, and I am forever grateful for the love and support from my family, teammates, coaches, fans and Hockey India. Thank you for believing in me," he added. "My teammates have stood beside through the tough and the ardent times. We all want to give our absolute best here in Paris and certainly, the desire is to change the colour of our medal." Having made his debut at the 2010 World Cup, Sreejesh has been a part of various memorabl
A day after its Korean chief coach Baek Woong Ki was forced to leave following denial of Olympic accreditation, India's archery contingent found itself at the centre of another controversy as it was alleged that a "tainted" physio was accommodated at his expense. The contingent will be without Woong Ki and Dronacharya award-winning High Performance Director Sanjeeva Singh as both of them could not find a place in the contingent's support staff. A top Archery Association of India (AAI) official revealed that instead, physio Arvind Yadav has been included despite the fact that he faced allegations of making an "inappropriate approach" to a Canadian teenager during the Youth World Championships in Limerick, Ireland in November last year. India had won a historic haul of six gold, one silver and four bronze medals at that event. "As per the complaint from the World Archery competition manager Thomas Aubert, Yadav had made an inappropriate approach to a Canadian teenager on social media
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is set to bring in medical health insurance and pension scheme for all former Olympians, the top sports body's president PT Usha said here on Sunday. Usha has proposed the recommendations to the IOA's Executive Committee which will come up for discussion soon. The IOA will solely cover all these expenses from its coffers and the idea came to Usha's mind after she witnessed the plight of Indian archer Limba Ram. "The IOA is taking many athlete-centric steps and one of these is medical insurance and pension for all our ex-Olympians," Usha told PTI while felicitating legendary Indian athlete Gurbachan Singh Randhwa on the occasion of International Olympic Dat at his residence here. "We have submitted the proposal to all EC members for all ex-Olympians. It is a small help from IOA for all ex-Olympians. We should remember all our ex-Olympians," she added. Usha said the idea struck her after she met ailing Olympian Limba Ram, who has suffered a brain
IOA president PT Usha on Friday assured Olympic-bound athletes of best possible assistance in Paris, saying sports-specific support staff would be housed closer to the Games Village in order to be able to provide help without wastage of time. Usha, who returned to India after finalising the arrangements of Indian athletes and support staff in Paris, said the IOA had also ensured that shooters and golfers stay closer to their respective event venues. The Chateauroux Shooting Centre is about two hours outside Paris, while the Le Golf National is an hour's drive from the Olympic hub. "We have been able to secure accommodation for a number of sports-specific support staff a short distance away from the Athletes' Village. We want to ensure no athletes are devoid of their support system and hence we have booked apartments in the vicinity," said Usha in a statement. "We have ensured that our shooters and golfers stay close to their respective venues," she added. Elaborating on the need f
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider listing the pleas relating to the All India Football Federation and finalisation of its constitution which was framed by former apex court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae, that the pleas needed to be heard. "It was said on March 19 that the pleas will be listed on April 5, that is today," Sankaranarayanan said. The bench assured that the case will be fixed for hearing soon. The top court seized two separate clutches of petitions relating to the Indian Olympic Association and the AIFF. It had said the report, submitted by Justice Rao, shall be circulated by Gopal Sankarnarayanan to all the parties desirous of securing the soft copies. It had directed that the objections to the AIFF's draft constitution be filed. On May 2, 2023,
Veteran table tennis player and reigning CWG champion Sharath Kamal will be India's flag bearer at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games while legendary boxer MC Mary Kom was on Thursday appointed the chef de mission of the country's contingent. Sharath Kamal symbolises "the unity and spirit of our contingent as they compete on the Olympic stage", the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said in a statement while making the announcement. The IOA has not yet named a female flag bearer but sources said that the sports body will not "compromise" on gender equality and will select a woman athlete later since many quotas for the Games, starting July 26, are yet to be filled. "There is no change in policy. We will wait for official confirmation of qualifications for women athletes before announcing the name. There won't be any compromise on that," said the IOA source. The IOC, in 2020, had changed its protocol to allow one female and and one male athlete of each NOC to bear the flag jointly during th
The Indian Olympic Association on Monday dissolved the ad-hoc committee for wrestling, saying "there is no further need" for it to run the sport after revocation of the suspension on the national federation, which now gets complete administrative control. The IOA said that the decision was also guided the successful conduct of the selection trials for next month's Olympic qualifying tournament for which the panel collaborated with WFI. The ad-hoc committee was formed in December last year after the sports ministry suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), which got a shot in the arm when the suspension imposed on it by the global governing body -- United World Wrestling -- was lifted in February. "The decision to dissolve the Adhoc Committee comes in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of Selection Trials by the Adhoc Committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives