The Hindu : Sport : IOA, BCCI protest against State legislations

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Friday, May 06, 2005

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Sport - Sports : General

IOA, BCCI protest against State legislations

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) joined hands on Thursday to protest against the legislations enacted recently in three States to control sports bodies.

Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have either passed Sports Bills or had ordinances in place to regulate sports bodies.

At a press conference, jointly addressed by the IOA President, Suresh Kalmadi, and the BCCI President, Ranbir Singh, here on Thursday, the two sports organisations appealed to the concerned States to repeal the bills. Both warned that eventually they might be forced to seek legal redress if the States persisted with the legislation.

Mr. Kalmadi cautioned that any State Olympic unit constituted after "destabilising existing units" would not be recognised by the IOA and they would not be eligible to either host or participate in National Games.

Mr. Ranbir Singh said the Board had taken strong exception to the bills being passed by these States. "The Board is in total agreement with the IOA on the matter," he added.

The IOA took shelter behind the Olympic Charter to state that no Government interference could be tolerated. "The State Olympic Associations and the National Federations are governed by the Charter. The States should respect this and do nothing to disturb the position. Nobody should tinker with the autonomy," Mr. Kalmadi said.

Mr. Kalmadi argued that there should be no legislation at all either at the Centre or in the Sates to regulate sports bodies since they were governed under a different set of rules as per the Olympic Charter.

Mr. Kalmadi said repeated attempts by the Union Government to bring sports into the Concurrent List had failed and it would continue to face resistance from several States. The IOA had opposed this move and he urged the Sports Minister "not to keep at it".

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