IOA to check expertise of Indian contingents before clearance: Vijay Goel

In the wake of the ongoing enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against two doctors who were sent by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to the Rio Olympics, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel on Saturday stated that the IOA will now check proper bio-data and expertise of the contingents before clearing names for any event.

"I have also read in the newspaper that the CBI is investigating against two doctors who went to Rio Olympics, against whom there have been speculations that they were not qualified. I want to clarify two things. Whenever a contingent participates in Olympics then the proper approval is taken on how many number of people would come along," Goel said in an exclusive conversation with ANI.

Goel revealed that earlier the IOA used to give approval under good faith after the contingent failed to submit the names till the very last moment.

"Earlier, we used to push contingent for names. Their failure to do the same until the last moment propelled us to give them approval to avoid further delay. But now, the Sports Ministry has decided that the IOA would clarify all details of the participants who go for the event. We will clarify his name, biodata, expertise, domain expertise and other required things before giving approval," he added.

Earlier in the day, Joint Secretary of the IOA, Anandeshwar Pandey, said that everyone must cooperate and support the enquiry by the CBI, adding the sent doctors belong to reputed fields.

"They both were reputed doctors, one belonged to the Army and the other was a government doctor. The CBI is an eminent agency and, therefore, the concerned person must cooperate and support the enquiry," Pandey had said.

He added that the required documents are to be submitted to meet the demands of the enquiry.

Earlier yesterday, the CBI instituted a preliminary inquiry against two doctors - Pawandeep Singh and R.S. Negi, who, without proper qualifications, were sent to Rio Olympics along with the Indian sports contingent.

The duo was sent to the Rio Olympics, held in Brazil last year, by the IOA.

The step was seen as 'favouritism' on the part of IOA as Pawandeep's father, Tarlochan Singh, is the vice-president of the IOA while, Negi is a distant cousin and close friend of IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta.

Tarlochan Singh, however, had defended his son's appointment as the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian contingent at the Olympics Games.

Tarlochan's comments came in wake of reports suggesting that Pawandeep, a radiologist by profession, did not prove to be of much help to the Indian athletes in the prestigious quadrennial games.

Tarlochan, who is also the acting president of the Archery Association of India, said that only Chef de Mission had the right to judge his son's performance.