The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to coordinate and submit all amendment proposals to the world body by no later than June 12, 2013, so the process of lifting the ban on India could start at the earliest.
“This is to follow up on our letter of May 24. In order to move forward with the first step of the process (amendments to the IOA Constitution), you are kindly invited to coordinate and submit to us (by email) all amendments proposals from the membership of the suspended IOA as soon as possible and no later than 12 June 2013”, Jerome Poivey, head of the IOC’s Institutional Relations and Governance, wrote in the letter.
Under this the IOA was supposed to amend its constitution before July 15 and elect new office bearers by September 1, both under the watchful eyes of the IOC.
“We will then review the amendments proposals submitted and provide you with our comments as well as our additional requests for amendments in order to ensure that all standards of good governance and integrity are effectively addressed in the final draft that will be presented for adoption at the first extraordinary meeting of the IOA,” the letter further stated.
In its earlier letter, the IOC had said it would start the process of lifting the ban on India after the guidelines in the roadmap are implemented.
In response to IOC’s letter, a meeting was called by the suspended IOA led by Abhay Singh Chautala, where it was agreed to hold a Special General Body meeting next month to amend the IOA Constitution and also finalise the election process.
A draft constitution of the IOA was distributed among the members with the proposed amendments in it and they have been asked to give their views on them. The members were also asked to send requisition forms to Mr. Chautala to call for a Special GBM in July to amend the constitution.
The roadmap was issued on the basis of “agreement” after discussions on May 15 in Lausanne between Indian officials and the IOC.
The IOC had made it clear that the IOA will “elect an independent election commission comprising three members who will be in charge of conducting the whole election process (before and during the Elective General Assembly)” under the supervision of the world body.
