IOA Elections: Families rule Indian sports

November 7, 2012
Indian_olympic_association


Bangalore, November 7: The elections to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) are turning out to be family soap opera. A look at the electoral college shows how several families have used various sports as their personal fiefdoms. It also reveals that some of the big names which courted controversies recently are still very much in control.

Lalit Bhanot, the former big boss in athletics, who is being tried in cases relating to the Delhi Commonwealth Games, will attend the annual general body meeting on November 25 representing the Delhi Olympic Association.

Bhanot, who is likely to contest for the post of secretary-general, will be joined by Abhay Singh Chautala with the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) forwarding his name as one of the three voters from the federation.

IABF has also named Chautala's brother-in-law Abhishek Matoria, who was controversially elected as the president, despite not being eligible to attend the meeting. Chautala can also expect the support of his brother Ajay who will cast his vote as the representative of the Table Tennis Federation of India.

The electoral rolls, released for the first time after the 1996 elections held in Bangalore, also expose the tradition of families ruling Indian sports.

Secretary-general and a candidate for the president's post, Randhir Singh, can expect support from the National Rifle Association of India led by Raninder Singh, who is his nephew. The same applies to Bowling Federation of India headed by Randhir's daughter Sunaina Kumari. Randhir also has a vote as the member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Among those from other families who will be part of the elections and attract attention in the list, officially released on Tuesday by IOA acting president VK Malhotra, are SS Dhindsa (Punjab Olympic Association) and his son Parminder Singh Dhindsa (Cycling Federation of India), CP Singh Deo and his wife Raj Laxmi (rowing), the Nanavati brothers Kamlesh and Virender (swimming) and Rajeev Mehta (kho-kho) and wife Deepa Mehta (luge). There may be more such instances in this list and it appears that the fate of the candidates, which will be known soon, will depend on the favourites of these families.

That the prospective candidates have left no stone unturned in ensuring victory in the elections was evident from the nominees of Athletics Federation of India which excluded its president Adille Sumariwalla. AFI, in turn, nominated ML Jadam, who doesn't hold any post, along with CK Valson (secretary) and Sushil Salwan (vice-president).

Meanwhile, Union sports secretary PK Deb told TOI that the ministry will write to IOA and the returning officer about Abhay Singh Chautala.

"We will bring to their notice that the post of chairman doesn't exist in IABF. Whether he can vote or contest is for the returning officer to decide," Deb said.

HI gets IOA nod

With the administrators of hockey vertically split, the IOA on Tuesday went with Hockey India, giving voting rights to its nominees - Mariamma Koshy, Narinder Batra and Sudharshan Pathak. It also allowed the Indian Hockey Federation nominees - V Dinesh Reddy, Jatinder Peter and RK Shetty - to attend the meeting. "As per the Delhi High Court order dated October 16 you will be permitted to participate in the meeting but will not be entitled to vote as per the IOA constitution," acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.



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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Jun 2: Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has spoken strongly against the killing if George Floyd in USA, and has now urged the ICC & all the other boards in the world to come together and fight the evil.

In a series of tweets Sammy wrote how the blacks have been suffering for a long time.

“For too long black people have suffered. I’m all the way in St Lucia and I’m frustrated If you see me as a teammate then you see #GeorgeFloyd Can you be part of the change by showing your support. #BlackLivesMatter,” Sammy wrote.

He also wrote, “@ICC and all the other boards are you guys not seeing what’s happening to ppl like me? Are you not gonna speak against the social injustice against my kind. This is not only about America. This happens everyday #BlackLivesMatter now is not the time to be silent. I wanna hear u.”

“Right now if the cricket world not standing against the injustice against people of color after seeing that last video of that foot down the next of my brother you are also part of the problem.”

Earlier, West Indies star batsman Chris Gayle has said racism exists in cricket too, saying he gets the 'end of the stick' even within teams.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own! I have travelled the globe and experience racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," Gayle wrote in his Instagram story.

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