PT Usha ended up at the fifth position in the SOM elections with Anju Bobby George, Rani Rampal, Dola Banerjee and Saina Nehwal finishing ahead of the former IOA president
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The International Olympic Committee has slammed the Indian Olympic Association for tarnishing its own reputation and damaging the Olympic movement in the country after reports emerged of an unfair conduct of the elections under the influence of certain powerful figures within the system.
Recently, elections for the Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOMs) were taking place along with the formation of a 10-member Athletes’ Commission, followed by the presidential elections of the Indian Olympic body.
This comes after PT Usha, who is the first female president in the 95-year history of the IOA, recently lost the SOM elections by finishing fifth behind Anju Bobby George, Rani Rampal, Dola Banerjee and Saina Nehwal, who received 53, 50, 45 and 43 votes respectivelyUsha finished with only 40 votes.
Since the top four finishers are eligible for qualification, Usha missed out on a direct place in the IOA’s general bodyOnce the results came out, the former IOA head was extremely disappointed and subsequently wrote to the IOC about an unfair conduct of elections.
Usha’s letter addressed the manipulation by other candidates under pressure to influence the election results against herThis might have dented her hopes of reclaiming the presidential seat, but there is still light at the end of the tunnel.
The Indian Ice Hockey Federation has backed PT Usha as its female representative in the provisional electoral list along with Harjinder Singh.
However, several officers have questioned Usha’s membership in the IHAI, with Supreme Court advocate Atul Kumar asking Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava to establish whether Usha is a registered member or notThis has caused another major stir and controversy in the IOA’s electoral process.
This power tussle and the letter from PT Usha also prompted a reaction from the IOC, which has openly slammed the IOA for their lack of transparency in electionsThe international committee expressed its disappointment and claimed that these developments will negatively affect India’s reputation and Olympic movement.
“The IOC is very disappointed to note that, once again, issues and disputes seem to have resurfaced in the conduct of the IOA election process and in the implementation of the rules governing the IOA elections, despite all the efforts made over the past few years to establish a strong governance framework for the IOA in accordance with the Olympic Charter and the Basic Principles of Good Governance within the Olympic Movement,” the IOC said in an official statement.
“This extremely regrettable situation is, once again, negatively affecting the operations and reputation of the Olympic Movement in India,” the IOC concluded.
The IOA elections are due to take place on Saturday, December 5.
