Indian Olympic Association official’s nomination raises eyebrows

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, February 20

Elections often throw up surprise winners and upset losses for big leaders. However, when it comes to a National Sports Federation election, surprise comes in the manner of how the electoral college is compiled, with names cropping up of persons who have no active role in their state bodies.

Take the curious case of Lt Gen Harpal Singh (retd) who is contesting to become the president of the Rowing Federation of India (RFI). The election of the new executive is to be held on February 25.

Singh, who is also an executive council member of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), is representing the Delhi Rowing Federation as one of its authorised voters. Curiously, at the last RFI elections in 2019, when Singh contested and lost, he was part of the voters’ list from Uttarakhand. This is not all. Singh contested for a post in the IOA executive council as a member of the Indian Golf Union in 2020 when his name was nominated from Arunachal Pradesh.

RFI’s Jharkhand unit has raised the issue in a letter addressed to IOA president PT Usha.

“…Being an EC Member of the Indian Olympic Association, as on date, where he is a representative from the Indian Golf Union he has filed his nomination to contest the election of the Rowing Federation of India and this time filing his nomination from Delhi (Annexure 5). This clearly shows that Mr. Harpal Singh has no love or liking for Golf or Rowing, as a matter of fact he has no love for any Sport, but is just trying to grab a chair in any national federation to keep his candidature in the Indian Olympic Association,” Jharkhand Rowing Association’s joint secretary Shashi Pandey said in the letter.

“Madam, as we all are aware he is the Chairman of the Affiliation & Disputes Committee of the Indian Olympic Association, I see a clear case of Conflict of Interest, as to how can such a person be sitting on a responsible position who himself is creating such disputed moves. In the wake of all evidence I request your intervention in this matter and stop a wrong precedent in sports. This is a sheer misuse of chair to create problems which should be unacceptable in sports,” he added.

Singh denies any wrongdoing and said that he is not contesting to safeguard his place in the IOA. “I do not need to fight for IOA. That election is three years from now. This is too far-fetched,” he told The Tribune.