Ending a prolonged standoff, the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) Executive Council (EC) on Thursday ratified the appointment of Raghuram Iyer as Chief Executive Officer and announced the formation of a panel to address the country’s doping concerns, an issue flagged by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during India’s recent pitch for the 2036 Olympic Games.
Iyer’s appointment, made by IOA President PT Usha in January 2024, had been held up due to opposition from EC members over his remuneration package of Rs 20 lakh per month, along with additional perks. However, the impasse was resolved following the intervention of Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, clearing the way for Iyer’s official appointment.
At a press conference following the EC meeting on Thursday, Usha also launched Mission 2036, which aims to elevate India’s global sporting profile.
“We are focused on our long-term goal of transforming India into a sporting powerhouse. It’s part of the resolve to power through India’s sporting aspirations via Mission 2036. We also aim to bring the Olympics to India in 2036,” Usha said.
India’s ambition to host the 2036 Olympics was first formally articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the IOC Annual Session in Mumbai in October 2023, with Ahmedabad identified as the proposed host city.
Meanwhile, in response to concerns raised by the IOC regarding India’s doping record, the IOA has constituted a seven-member anti-doping panel led by former Davis Cup player Rohit Rajpal, with former shuttler Aparna Popat and sports medicine expert Dr PSM Chandran as the members, along with four others.
“The IOC (International Olympic Committee) mentioned high doping cases in India when the IOA (delegation) visited Lausanne,” Iyer said at the joint press meet alongside Usha and other EC members.
India had last month topped the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2023 testing figures among countries which analysed 5,000 or more samples with a high positivity rate of 3.8 per cent for banned substances.
IOA welcomes the Sports Bill
Taking a U-turn from their original stance regarding the new sports bill, which was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, the IOA finally welcomed it. The bill, once enacted, will lead to the institution of a National Sports Board that will be authorised to grant recognition to national federations and regulate their funding as well.
Usha said that the IOC was concerned with a few issues, but the new bill was tabled only after getting clearances.
“The IOC was concerned about two-three issues, but the ministry consulted the world body and other international federations, and then the bill was cleared,” Usha said.
IOA joint secretary and All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey said the new bill should not be construed as intervention from the Sports Ministry but as cooperation and coordination with the stakeholders, including IOA and National Sports Federations (NSF).
“The new bill was very clear that whenever there is conflict in any provision with the statutes of international federations, those of the latter will prevail,” said Chaubey.