After facing huge backlash for appointing scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as life presidents, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been forced to annul its controversial decision. Reportedly, IOA official established that the appointments of Kalmadi and Chautala have been stated “null and void” to get the approval of the Sports Ministry.
Besides, IOA also wants to keep away from any potential action from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). On December 27, Kalmadi and Chautala were given the honorary position at the IOA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Chennai. However, the Olympic body was forced to repeal its choice after it was opposed by a bulk of IOA members.
“Both Kamaldi and Chautala’s appointments have been declared null and void as after going through all the documents of the AGM we found out that there were technical fault in the decision,” a top IOA official said as per the reports. “Kamaldi and Chautala are no longer part of IOA and have nothing to do with IOA.”
This development is an absolute U-turn of the IOA, which has been suspended by the Sports Ministry for making the controversial appointments. IOA’s suspension will prolong until it decides to repeal its choice of appointing Kalmadi and Chautala as its life presidents, the Ministry had said.
Significantly, the newly-appointed International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Narinder Batra also resigned as the Olympic body’s associate vice-president in a sign of a protest.
Kalmadi is an accused in the 2010 Commonwealth Games corruption scam. He has also spent 9 months in prison. On the other hand, Chautala is facing a trial in disproportionate assets case.
