New Delhi, May 18
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) special general body meeting, held at the Olympic Bhawan here today, "unanimously rejected the ad hoc and arbitrary guidelines" imposed on the IOA and the National Sports Federations (NSFs) by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through a letter issued on May 1, 2010.

The IOA meeting, held "openly and in a transparent manner" resolved that "no steps would be initiated by either the IOA or any National Sports Federation to amend their respective constitutions to incorporate any of the guidelines". The Ministry, on the eve of the meeting, had asked the IOA to discuss the guidelines to bring transparency in the functioning of the IOA and the NSFs.

With the IOA meeting rejecting the Government guidelines, the stage is set for an open confrontation between the Olympic body and the Sports Ministry. IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee, and secretary-general of the Olympic Council of Asia, asserted that if the Ministry continued to insist on imposing the guidelines on the IOA and the NSFs, "India could face the embarrassment of being left out in the cold as far as the Olympic Movement is concerned".

IOA president Suresh Kalmadi said the Ministry guidelines had created an erroneous impression as the "autonomy of the IOA and the NSFs could not be eroded as the Olympic Charter states clearly that only the National Olympic Committee has the right to decide the terms of office of the office-bearers and executive members".

He said the Ministry's expense of training of India's elite athletes for international competition had been shown as "grants to National Sports Federations, creating the impression that the IOA and NSFs are doing nothing but wasting public money".

"We get a pittance from the Ministry", Kalmadi said, taking a massive dig at the Government claims. IOA senior vice-president and MP Tarlochan Singh pointed out that the Ministry had been wrongly stating that Parliament had backed the decision to impose the guidelines on the IOA and the NSFs. "During a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the working of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on April 22, 2010, just two of the 21 members made any mention of tenures of office-bearers of NSFs. To say that Parliament was seized of the issue is to paint a false picture", he added.

IOA senior vice-president and president of the Archery Association of India Vijay Kumar Malhotra termed the guidelines as "draconian", adding that it was wrong on the part of the Ministry to suggest that "non-compliance of the guidelines would lead o the NSFs losing the right to select the Indian teams". Cycling Federation of India president Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who is also the president of the Punjab Olympic Association, said the Ministry guidelines would lead to a "long drawnout fight and the members would have to be ready to face harassment by a number of Government agencies as a consequence". The IOA meeting also decided to propose to the Government to appoint its own officials to disburse camp allowances, boarding and lodging and training subsistence directly to athletes attending the national camps.

"The Sports Authority of India, with over 200 officers and staff on which the Ministry spends Rs 20 crore every year, including on the Team's Wing, will be proposed for disbursing the funds the Government spends directly on the athletes as part of its social responsibility for which Parliament makes a sanction in the Budget". However, the NSFs will continue to accept the presence of Government observers during selection of national teams.

New Delhi, May 18
Olympic and World Championship bronze medal winning boxer Vijender Singh (75kg) continued his reign at the top, while Asian silver medallist Thokchom Nanao Singh (48kg) rose a couple of rungs to fourth in the latest AIBA rankings. Vijender (75kg), who became a Commonwealth champion in March, has 2137.5 points in the list updated after the 3 Star China Cup, which was a ranking points event.

Vijender did not participate in the China Cup but given the points gap between him and his rivals, the Indian's reign at the top was hardly threatened. Nanao (48kg) has risen despite being out of action since January. The Manipuri, who is a former youth world champion, has 1400 points in the latest rankings. The light fly weight list also has Commonwealth champion Amandeep Singh way down at the 54th spot, which is a drop of 10 places, with 225 points.

Suranjoy Singh (51kg) gained three places, rising to 13th with 800 points. Olympian Jitender Kumar dropped three rungs to 21st in the bantam weight (54kg) list which has another Indian in the 17-year-old Shiva Thapa, who clinched a silver at the Youth World Championships earlier this month. The Assamese has entered the rankings at the 22nd spot with 600 points.

In the soon-to-be-abolished feather weight (57kg) division, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar rose one spot to ninth with 850 points. Chhote Lal Yadav gained significantly, rising to 48th from 56th in the 57kg list. In the light weight (60kg) division, newly crowned youth world champion Vikas Krishan made his entry into the rankings at 14th, which is 10 places above the much senior Commonwealth champion Jai Bhagwan. Vikas has 800 points, while Jai has 650 points. In the light heavy weight (81kg) category, Olympian and Commonwealth champion Dinesh Kumar remained steady at the seventh spot with 1275 points. — PTI 

Bangalore, May 18
Presence of master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the squad could have given the much needed motivation to the Indian T20 side which failed to make it to the semifinals in the world T20 championship in West Indies.

E A S Prasanna, the ace off-spinner of yesteryears, told this to the TNS during an interview at his Bangalore home. Prasanna, who was a member of India’s famed spin quartet with Bedi, Chandrashekhar and Venkataraghavan being the other three, said Sachin’s exemplary commitment on the field would have lifted the morale of others members of the squad.

“In the IPL, it was primarily the foreign players who showed real commitment and set the tone for the performance of the Indian players. In the World Cup the Indian players had to play all by themselves and floundered. But the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the team could have made a difference”, Prasanna said.

The former Indian spinner, who took 189 wickets from 49 tests, said Viraat Kohli should have been inducted in the team in place of Yuvraj Singh, who was unfit and did not play well in the IPL. “With Kohli and Raina fielding at cover and mid-on and Dhoni behind the stumps, it would have made a great V and stifled the flow of runs”, he said.

On the captaincy issue, Prasanna said Mahendra Singh Dhoni lacked the flare of former captains like Pataudi, Gavaskar and Ganguly. “May be Dhoni has some qualities off the field, but on-field he is not as good as the three I have named. But I shall not advocate his removal from the captain’s position at this point of time because there is no one better than him to do the job”, he said.

On late night parties during the last IPL tournament and its affect on the players, Prasanna said the franchisees should not insist upon the players to attend these parties. “The franchisees, having paid money to the players, act like their employers and the players have to obey their dictates”, he said.

“Everyone is not like Garfield Sobers. Sobers could walk straight into the cricket field from a night club and then score a century. But everyone does not have the capability or the talent of Sobers”, Prasanna said. Prasanna is amused by the suggestions being made from some quarters of preparing pace-bowling friendly pitches in India. “You will benefit from fast pitches only if you have good fast bowlers. Otherwise a visiting team with a good pace attack will decimate India in those pitches”, he said.

Boateng reacts after the challenge on Ballack

Munich, May 18
Germany's new 'public enemy number one' Kevin-Prince Boateng apologised on Tuesday for dashing Germany captain Michael Ballack's World Cup hopes with a hard tackle that ruled him out of the tournament.