IOA willing to amend constitution: official

New Delhi: The suspended Indian Olympic Association is willing to amend its constitution in line with age and tenure guidelines of the controversial Sports Code of the government, a top IOA official said on Saturday.

Senior IOA official Tarlochan Singh that it was high time the Sports Ministry and the IOA try to find a common approach in the joint meeting with the IOC proposed to be held in Lausanne on May 7 so that India can return to the Olympic movement.

"There is a feeling that the IOC is willing for a solution. Repeated request for meeting should not be ignored but before going to Lausanne there should be an amicable agreement between the IOA and Sports Ministry," he said.

"All the NSFs and IOA senior officials are willing to amend the constitution and bring in those clauses which deprived a much longer stay of individuals in the Olympic set-up. Also in recent IOA elections, age limit clause was observed. Having agreed to these conditions, there should not be any dispute between Sports Ministry and IOA," he said.

He, however, said that the ministry's recent move to appoint a committee to re-draft the Sports Code would not help India in its bid to get the IOA ban lifted.

"I feel the fresh move by the Sports Ministry to revive the so-called Sports Code is unhealthy at this juncture. This may not help in the IOA ban being lifted.

"There should be a meeting of IOA and Ministry officials at the earliest and they should make a joint approach for withdrawal of the ban in the interest of Indian sports," Tarlochan said.

The IOC has proposed a joint meeting with representatives of the IOA and the Sports Ministry, five months after the national sports body was banned in December last for holding its elections under the Sports Code.

The acting IOA chief VK Malhotra, whom the IOC recognises, had recently gone on record saying that the joint meeting would not serve any purpose if the government sticks to its age and tenure guidelines under the contentious Sports Code.

Tarlochan also claimed that federations affiliated to the IOA have supported acting president VK Malhotra's stand on government's interference in the functioning of sports bodies.

"The federations have supported Malhotra's letter to the IOC where he has mentioned about the government's move to form a committee to re-draft the Sports Bill", he said.