M S Gill is now truly in a bind. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is understandably upset that the sports minister wants to limit the tenure of its top officials and has now termed this as undue interference in the affairs of a sports body. In other words, it is being argued that Gill’s action could end up in Indian sports being debarred from global events. A similar point was made by Lokesh Sharma (“Is a sports regulator needed?”, April 28) when he argued that the Olympic Charter forbids government interference in national sports administration. Sharma gave the instance of the Kuwait Olympic Committee that was suspended by the International Olympic Committee for suspected government interference in its national sports bodies.
It is, of course, an open question as to whether asking for a limit on the tenure of the chief of an organisation amounts to interfering in its affairs, or whether asking for free and fair elections falls in the same category of offence. Perhaps Gill needs to consult a lawyer and settle matters once and for all.
Santosh Taneja, New Delhi
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