The Rowing Federation of India (RFI), which was de-recognised by the Union Sports Ministry allegedly for violating the Sports Code 2011 during its last elections held in Hyderabad where Ms. Rajalaxmi Singh Deo and Mr. M.V. Sriram were elected President and the Secretary-General respectively, has convened an emergency executive committee meeting here on Jan. 25 to resolve the issue.
The meeting has a two-point agenda — restricting the number of voters to two in the electoral college instead of the previous three and also barring any proxy voting.
These were the guidelines RFI apparently violated during the elections as per the Union Sports Ministry, which also asked the IOA to discharge the functions of the rowing body.
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“We decided to convene this meeting and to go for fresh elections after making necessary amendments to our constitution incorporating the guidelines to implement the Sports Code,” former RFI president C.P. Singh Deo told
“Unfortunately, an impression has been created as if there was lot of fraud in the elections.
“The proxy voting in the RFI was never aimed at rigging the whole process.
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“It was only to ensure the votes of those who could not come are cast.”
“What is perplexing is that the ministry could have just sent us a communication specifically suggesting that these two amendments had to be made to comply with the Sports Code with regard to election process,” Deo said.