Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) officials have dared the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to take punitive action against the Federation. With the Ministry dragging its feet and not derecognising the Federation, as threatened, for not complying with the National Sports Development Code of India 2011, they decided to go ahead with the elections on September 29.
A cursory glance at the notice for the EFI annual general meeting posted on its website reveals that that there would be no change in the EFI electoral college, with individual members, life members having one vote each and representatives of units, clubs and State Associations having two votes each.
This is in violation of the Ministry’s Model Election Guidelines issued to NSFs, specifying that only representatives of State/Union Territory Associations can be part of the electoral college. It also mocks at the attempts by the State Associations to convince those helming the Ministry that it must enforce the Code on the EFI as well.
Besides, the notice for the annual general meeting does not have even a passing mention of Code compliance or seek to offer any update on the EFI office-bearers parleys with the Ministry. Since the Ministry had set EFI an August 3 deadline for Code compliance, it would have been expected that its officials would want to brief its members at the annual meeting.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports must take care to be not seen as complicit to such side-stepping manoeuvres by the Equestrian Federation of India. If indeed it intends the National Sports Development Code of India 2011 to be applicable to all National Sports Federations, it must ensure that these elections are not held in violation of the Code.
Curiously, the EFI brass has appended the DoPT memorandum of August 5 this year which specifies that Government servants are not allowed to hold office for more than two terms or four years, whichever is earlier. It is possible that some officials will try and focus on two terms rather than the upper limit of four year when trying to contest elections.
If indeed the elections go ahead as per schedule, with the EFI daring the Ministry to derecognise for violating the Code, it will be important for the Returning Officer to be aware of this restriction and enforce it in all earnestness. It can be expected that the Indian Olympic Association will not send an observer to the EFI annual general meeting.
There have been whispers that the Ministry intends to revise the draft new code to let sports like Equestrian, Golf and Yachting be treated differently to other disciplines. Until that happens, the NSFs of these sports must be made to comply with the existing rules without discriminating against other sport.
This article was first published in Mail Today on September 3, 2019
