Sports Minister backs strong ethical standards for IOA NEW DELHI, AUG. 21: The Union Sports Minister, Jitendra Singh, has strongly backed the efforts of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to strengthen the ethical standards of the Indian Olympic Associaiton (IOA), through a Constitutional restriction which stipulates that persons with criminal charges would not be eligible to contest the elections. In a statement released here on Wednesday, the Minister said that he was looking forward to the Indian sportspersons competing under the national flag once again. ‘’The greatest disservice that one can do to sports is to deny a deserving sportsperson the honour of competing under the national flag’’, said the Minister. Following the suspension of the IOA by the IOC last year, owing to government interference in its functioning, the Indian sportspersons have mostly been unable to compete as team India, or sport the national flag or listen to the national anthem on winning the gold as in the case of the ongoing Asian Youth Games. ‘’The government of India urges all concerned to ensure that individual interests should not come in the way of our national interest and good of sports’’, the statement said. The Sports Minister hoped for a solution during the Special General Body Meeting of the IOA on August 25, which is expected to ratify the Constitutional amendments as directed by the IOC.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 01:33:24 +0000
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