re of Olympic Solidarity Grants meant for athlete-development programmes. This has triggered a new war of words between the IOA's embattled treasurer Sahdev Yadav and president PT Usha.
The IOC made the decision at its Executive Board Meeting on October 8, and informed the Indian Olympic Association in a Friday letter.
James MacLeod's letter to Usha, Executive Council and NOC Relations Director, NOC Solidarity and Olympic Solidarity, stated that there were "obvious ongoing internal disputes" and "governance issues" facing the IOA.
The IOC and Olympic Solidarity have decided to withhold payments until further notice to the IOA except for direct payments made to athletes who benefit from Olympic scholarships.
Olympic Solidarity offers assistance to all National Olympic Committees by providing a portion of the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games to be used to support athlete development programs.
Olympic Solidarity offers athletes scholarships that provide them with subsidies to help them train and qualify for Olympic Games.
The IOC has said that it has received the latest communication from various parties regarding the "unfortunate" situation in the IOA.
The IOC made a number of attempts to find solutions that would help the IOA to function more efficiently and to work as a cohesive team. Unfortunately, all these efforts have failed.
We urge all parties concerned to act swiftly and responsibly in order to resolve all outstanding governance issues, according to the IOA Constitution.
In a press statement, the IOA blamed Sahdev Yadav for the IOC decision, saying that he had failed to submit the required annual financial reports to its international parent.
The press release stated that "the IOA is deeply worried about the severe financial consequences caused by the IOA Treasurer's failure to file the required annual financial reports despite repeated reminders of the IOC."
This negligence will lead to the IOA missing out on crucial Olympic Solidarity Grants for the last few years. It will be a major blow to IOA's efforts in supporting Indian athletes.
This will have a significant impact on the IOA’s ability to support Indian athletes financially, and could affect their performance at upcoming international events.
An IOA official said that the top sports body in India received Rs 8,50 crores annually from the Olympic Solidarity Fund over the past four years.
The official said that the IOC would first require the submission of annual financial reports. They will then determine whether or not we receive the funding.
In the IOA press release, it was also stated that the IOC Executive Board "specifically noted" the IOA's inability to function properly due to its persistent opposition to ratifying the appointment of the CEO.
A special general meeting of the IOA was called on October 25, due to an ongoing feud within the IOA between Usha, 12 Executive Council Members and Raghuram Iyer over the nomination of Raghuram Iyer CEO.
Usha said Iyer's nomination was approved by the EC at a meeting held on 5 January, and that his salary was the last issue to be negotiated. The 12 EC members refused to ratify Iyer as CEO.
Usha also refuted Yadav’s claims that an erroneous sponsorship agreement with Reliance India Limited led to IOA losing Rs24 crore due to a defective sponsorship agreement.
Usha said that the due process was followed when redrafting the RIL deal and the negotiation proposal had been circulated to all EC members.
Yadav, in a Thursday rebuttal to Usha, alleged that "the president has sold IOA assets (i.e. Without exploring alternatives or discussing with EC, a scenario that can be viewed as the president's office being compromised."
"...you have chosen to individually and personally accept the terms of the amended agreement, and you put your signature in front of the Executive Council approval as required by the IOA constitution," Sahdev wrote.
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