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IOA Elections: Families rule Indian sports

November 7, 2012
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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
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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