Goa was today asked to fix a date for next year's National Games or else face action while the Indian Olympic Association will increase the annual monetary assistance to National Sports Federations and its member state units to Rs 5 lakh in important decisions taken at the IOA's Annual General Meeting held here.
The IOA also decided to back the All India Tennis Association and Judo Federation of India in their fight against the Sports Ministry which had asked the heads of the two NSFs to step down under the contentious tenure limit provisions of the Sports Code.
Goa, which had won the hosting rights of the 2016 National Games, has been tardy in the preparation for the multi-sporting event and has not yet fixed the dates despite repeated request from the IOA. The IOA had warned Goa in August that the Games may be shifted to another state if it does not act fast.
The AGM today discussed the issue and decided to give Goa one more time to fix the date of hosting the Games. The state has been asked to get back to the IOA within a few days.
"The House expressed displeasure at the tardy pace of preparations by Goa for 2016 National Games. Moreover, Goa has not fixed a date for the Games despite repeated reminder by the IOA. The House decided that Goa will be given one more chance to do that," a top official who attended the AGM told PTI.
Andhra Pradesh also submitted its bid to host the 2019 National Games by depositing Rs 50 lakh security amount.
In another significant development, the IOA also decided to give each NSFs and state Olympic Associations Rs 5 lakh per annum, an increase of Rs 2 lakh from the amount received by them currently.
In the last AGM in Chennai last year, the IOA had decided to give Rs 3 lakh each annually to NSFs and state Olympic units.
"The President said that the IOA has been able to attract
sponsorships from the private sector and so the amount has been increased to Rs 5 lakh. He said if more sponsorship comes during the year, it will be increased to Rs 6 lakh," the official said.
Regarding the Sports Code, the House agreed that the tenure restrictions as applied to the IOA will be the same as in the case of NSFs also.
The Sports Ministry had asked AITA chief Anil Khanna and JFI President Mukesh Kumar to quit for allegedly flouting the tenure guidelines of the Sports Code, which demands a cooling-off period of four years before a secretary seeks re-election after two successive terms.
The duo had told the Ministry that the provision of cooling-off period in the tenure guidelines was applicable to only a secretary/treasurer seeking re-election to the same post (secretary/treasurer) after serving two consecutive terms. They said that the provisions will not apply to a secretary/treasurer seeking election for president.
"The House was unanimous that NSFs should not buckle down under such pressure from the Sports Ministry," the official said.
The House also reviewed the preparations of the upcoming South Asian Games to be held in Guwahati and Shillong from February 5-16. It was decided that badminton event will be shifted from Shillong to Guwahati as the venue at the Meghalaya capital was found to lack facilities to stage the event.
