Scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi declines IOA post, Ministry showcauses body

Suresh Kalmadi hasdeclined the position of the Indian Olympic Associations Life PresidentNew Delhi Faced with a barrage ofcriticism scamtainted Suresh Kalmadi on Wednesday declined theposition of the Indian Olympic Associations Life Presidenteven as the Sports Ministry issued a showcause notice to theIOA for its controversial decisionI thank the Indian Olympic Association for conferringthe honour of Life President on me However I do not feelthat it would be appropriate for me to accept this honour atthis time Kalmadi said in a letter addressed to IOAPresident N RamachandranI am confident that my name will be cleared and Iwill defer acceptance of the honour till such time he addedKalmadi along with another tainted former President Abhay Singh Chautala were elevated to Life Presidents by the IOA atits Annual General Meeting in Chennai yesterdayThe move triggered a storm with the Ministry todayissuing a showcause notice to the IOA and also threatening tosevere ties with the body if it failed to sack the duo ofwhich Kalmadi decided to step backThis move is against the constitution of IOA and is not acceptable to the Sports Ministry I am disappointed by the decision because both are facing cases of corruption We wanttransparency in sports Till the time these two dont resignor are sacked we will not deal with the IOA Sports MinisterVijay Goel told reporters hereEarlier while the IOA top brass went incommunicado for some time before Associate vicePresident Narinder Batra whois now the President of International Hockey Federationcriticised the move and called for the duo to step asideI might be quitting the IOA soon because I cant be associated with something which does not make sense to me interms of good governance They should not accept this positiontill the time their names are cleared Batra said breakingranks with the officials who voted unanimously for theseappointments yesterday in ChennaiHowever Chautala came out to defend himself by launchingan attack on Goel But that did little to douse the fire andGoel was joined by Ajay Maken the Sports Minister in theprevious government in criticising the move and calling itsad and painfulAs a former Sports Minister and sports enthusiast the IOAs decision to appoint Kalmadi and Chautala as LifePresidents of IOA is sad and very painful This decision isnot good for sports and Indias image Maken told reportershere todayI request the Sports Minister not only to convey hisreservations but take strong actions to reverse the decision All the National Sports Federations are funded by the SportsMinistry so the government should exercise its full powers toreverse the decision If they do so there is no reason thematter cant be resolved he addedChautala on the other hand wondered what the fuss was all about going to the extent of ridiculing Goel forexpressing pain on his appointmentI was surprised by the reaction of Sports Minister Vijay Goel He was claiming that there are criminal and corruptioncases against me The case against me is not a criminal case it is a political case a livid Chautala saidMr Goel has failed in his responsibility as a Sports Minister I would advise him to fulfil his responsibility asSports Minister because if he does that our medal count willincrease manifold and he will get credit for that Instead ofgetting into a controversy without knowing full facts heshould focus on his job he added