Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association is in for sweeping changes in the wake of the directive of the Indian Olympic Association disaffiliating some non-Olympic sports like carrom, chess, softball, sepak-tekraw, roller-skating, khorfball in the State to name a few.
The APOA has 56 units on its rolls and as per the IOA directive 33 will be out of its domain. The IOA has initiated nation-wide steps to implement its resolution at its last general body meeting in Jharkhand in this regard.
This move may have serious impact on some of the office-bearers of APOA also like B.K. Haranath (now treasurer and representing Hyderabad Carrom Association), S.R. Prem Raj (joint secretary and from sepak-tekraw) and A.P. Jitender Reddy (vice-president and from softball) to name a few.
Other consequence
And, the other big consequence may be that these disciplines may lose the priority in sports quota admissions and even won't get the financial assistance from the State Government.
“Yes, the IOA is meeting next month to confirm the minutes passed in the last AGM and once it is done, we are going to convene a high-level APOA meeting here to implement the rules in full,” says a senior APOA official.
In a mess
It may be a different issue here that the APOA itself is in some sort of a mess as two groups are engaged in a legal battle questioning the entire process of elections held a couple of years ago in which Lagadapati Rajagopal was elected as president of APOA.
But, clearly in the mood to seize the chance given by the IOA, it will soon pass a resolution effectively barring anyone from the deleted list of disciplines from holding any posts. “Even now they are only recognised units with no voting powers. But, we will try to take advantage of the new guidelines and stop them from entering the APOA executive committee,” the official says.
There is an irony too in the IOA directive for it recognises Indian Rugby Union even as the sport is not played by many States in the country. However, kabaddi (already part of Asian Games calendar) and kho kho are included in the revised IOA list of affiliated units in view of their popularity.
“Well, we might still grant conditional recognition to some of these disaffiliated disciplines depending on their popularity but again this will only mean they can continue to host their events but certainly not be part of APOA's regular activities,” the senior official pointed out.
