Govt cuts short long reign of sports bosses

NEW DELHI: The days of politicians like Suresh Kalmadi and Vijay Kumar Malhotra having an uninterrupted run as sports administrators seem to be numbered. The sports ministry on Sunday released an order putting a cap on the number of terms they can serve in office.

The ministry said it had fixed a tenure of 12 years, with or without breaks, for presidents of the Indian Olympic Association and national sports federations. Similarly, for the secretaries and treasurers of such bodies, the tenure cannot be more than two successive terms of four years each. The secretary and the treasurer shall be eligible for re-election after a minimum interval of four years. A retirement age of 70 has been fixed for all office-bearers. Existing office-bearers can complete their terms.
The ministry said it took the decision after studying regulations of the International Olympic Committee and other global sports federations. Ironically, sports bodies had been citing same regulations to insist on ‘‘autonomy’’.

Federations which refuse to accept the order will lose government recognition and not be eligible for financial help. They will also lose the power to select national teams for events like the Olympics.

The order came a day after the TOI-Crest Edition questioned the rationale behind allowing sports bosses to continue in their positions for years together.

In 1975, the government had issued norms capping the terms of presidents, secretaries and treasurers at not more than two straight terms of four years each. But this was kept in abeyance by orders issued in 2001 and 2002 by then sports minister Uma Bharti.