Revision as of 10:38, 6 October 2020

Controversies

2020

Sabi Hussain, June 20, 2020: The Times of India

Development of sports seems to be the least of their priorities. If one looks at the recent ugly mail exchanges, snide remarks and choice of words used by these office-bearers to deride each other, Indian sports fans and athletes would surely pray they need better administrators to govern. For example, Bholanath Singh, who is the associate member of the IOA’s Executive Board (EB) and one of the vice-presidents in Hockey India (HI), has been resorting to the use of words like ‘chamcha, gyan, panga, nakli neta, 1000 Mittal on one time, tommy-tommy, Mittal tommy gang boss and love you’ to describe IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta and its vicepresident, Sudhanshu Mittal, in his official mail exchange with them.

The IOA’s drama company became active after its president Narinder Batra, who is also the chief of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), got the whiff of a possible revolt against him by Mittal-Mehta group. To quell the rebellion, Batra first curtailed Mehta’s powers as the secretary general and took over much of his workload. The 63-year-old former HI chief then disbanded various existing committees and commissions, which comprised Mittal and Mehta’s loyalists, and started reshaping them by appointing his key associates from the national sports federations (NSFs) which have votes in the IOA electoral college.

Mittal shot off mails to IOC president Thomas Bach and FIH CEO Thierry Weil, levelling serious allegations of impropriety against Batra during his election as the HI’s head in October 2014, FIH’s chief in November 2016 and IOA’s president in December 2017. Mittal had expected these global governing bodies to act against Batra on grounds of illegality and falsehood. But his bid to unseat him fell through after both the IOC and FIH dismissed the complaints against Batra, contending he committed no breach.

However, it is not all over yet. Batra would know that he’s only won one part of the battle and a far bigger challenge awaits him on the home turf. The IOA elections in December 2021 are far off, but Mittal has decided to draw the battlelines early. He wants Batra's wings clipped in the IOA's next EB and General House meetings.

Batra has the support of IOA’s strongman Lalit Bhanot, who can sway the member votes in favour of any prospective candidate. Bhanot has decided the fate of many IOA and NSF elections in the past and he will hold the key this time as well. Mittal, at present, is banking on the support of Mehta, IOA’s senior VP Anil Khanna and treasurer Anandeshwar Panday, among others.

KEY PLAYERS

Narinder Batra: Batra has another four years to serve in the IOA after the December 2021 elections and he wishes to do so by holding on to his top post in the next electoral battle. He will have to do a lot of back-channeling to stop Mittal & Co. from claiming power.

Sudhanshu Mittal: Mittal, who is a senior leader and spokesperson of the ruling BJP party, is also the president of the International Kho-Kho Federation. He is a part of the 13-member committee formed by the sports ministry to review the draft national sports code 2017. Mittal hasn’t openly talked about his ambition to run for the IOA presidency in 2021, but sources say he wants the top chair.

Rajeev Mehta: He is serving his second term as the IOA’s secretary general. He has another four years left in his tenure in IOA, but not in the current position. Mehta knows he can’t run for the president’s post in 2021 since Mittal is already in the fray. He is looking to become one of the vice-presidents (total nine vacancies as VP) under Mittal’s leadership.

Lalit Bhanot: The key player in this Batra-Mehta-Mittal soap opera. Bhanot, whose appointment as the IOA’s secretary general in December 2012 had led to the sports body’s suspension for 14 months by the IOC, is the chairman of IOA’s Preparation Committee, as well as the head of the AFI’s Planning Committee. He holds considerable clout in the IOA and it’s said that without his blessings and manpower, no individual can win the elections.

Anil Khanna: IOA’s senior VP is also the organisation’s finance committee chairman. Khanna, the former All India Tennis Association’s (AITA) president, had contested unsuccessfully against Batra in December 2017 elections, where he garnered just 13 votes compared to Batra’s 142. Khanna has been at loggerheads with Batra for quite some time after the former was blamed for the loss of Rs 72.84 lakh to the IOA in hotel bookings for the Tokyo Games. Khanna, returning the favour, has been targeting Hockey India (HI). Khanna is supporting Mittal in his bid to unseat Batra.

WHO SAYS WHAT “It is disappointing that Mittal, who himself was elected as the IOA VP in the same elections, is now trying to damage my image and reputation as a means to project himself as a candidate for the IOA presidency in 2021 elections. I refute the allegations (of any illegality in the IOA and FIH president elections) made by this malicious motivated individual.” -- Narinder Batra

Batra was incapable of holding any post in the executive committee of HI. Instead of following the rules and regulations of the IOA, Batra blatantly flouted them only so that he could become the IOA president.” -- Sudhanshu Mittal