Cleansed Indian Olympic Association cleared

New Delhi: The Sports Ministry on Friday lifted the suspension of recognition accorded to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) after the national sports body revoked its earlier decision to appoint former chiefs Abhay Singh Chautala and Suresh Kalmadi as honorary life presidents.

The IOA's Annual General Meeting on December 27 last year had reportedly passed a resolution to honour the controversial duo with the post of honorary life president. The move invited severe criticism from various quarters with the government issuing show-cause notice before suspending the deemed recognition of the national Olympic body.

Following the suspension, the IOA had ceased to enjoy the privileges and prerogatives bestowed on it by the government as the National Olympic Committee (NOC). All government assistance, financial or otherwise, to the IOA had also been stopped.

However, in a letter to the Ministry of Sports dated January 9, IOA President N. Ramachandran had claimed that the national Olympic body has not passed any resolution to honour the controversial duo.

Kalmadi served as IOA President from 1996 to 2011 and was jailed in April 2014 for 10 months for involvement in a corruption scandal that cast a shadow over the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games -- he was later released on bail. Ramachandran had pointed out that members could make proposals in a meeting but if it did not meet the provisions of the IOA constitution.