The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has chosen to bring its payments to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to a halt, as a result of internal conflict at that organisation.
The IOC made that decision known to the IOA on October 8, in a letter which has now been seen by media.
James Macleod, director of National Olympic Committee relations at the IOC, has said that the main reason for bringing its IOA funding - amounting to around €1 million ($1.09 million) annually - to a halt is “ongoing internal disputes and governance issues."
The dispute is based around the appointment, back in January, of Raghuram Iyer as chief executive of the IOA - various members of the IOA’s executive council have refused to ratify that decision by the body’s president, P.T. Usha, while there are ongoing disagreements about his salary.
In addition to this issue, the IOA has been accused of not submitting compulsory financial reports, thereby impacting its eligibility to receive Olympic Solidarity Grants.
This has led to a public war of words between Usha and the IOA treasurer, Sadhev Yadav, who has also been accused by Usha of mismanaging a commercial deal with Reliance India which (Usha claims) resulted in the Indian body losing around €2.8 million.
Now, a special general assembly of the IOA has been called for October 25, to try and resolve the situation, as the fate of the intended IOC funding hangs in the balance.
Maclead also said that the situation “creates uncertainty and requires clarification.”
The appointment of an iOA chief executive only came after its own lengthy saga - last March, Usha announced the IOA had set a criterion for the appointment of its chief executive but only one applicant had been found to tick all the boxes. The IOA then called for applications through a re-advertisement.
The criteria stated the chief executive should be a “management professional with an experience of no less than 10 years as the chief executive of a company/entity with an annual turnover of no less than Rs 25 crore ($3 million).”
In June, the IOA then received a final warning from the IOC regarding the vacancy, with that body asking the IOA to fill the position “without further delay.”
Before joining IOA, Iyer served as chief executive of the IPL’s Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants, and Rising Pune Supergiants, as well as the ISL’s ATK Mohun Bagan.
These disagreements and issues at the IOA come as India weighs up a potential bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics.
The country has never hosted an edition of that iconic sporting event before.
