India on way back to Olympic fold after successful Lausanne talks

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday agreed to have fresh elections and hold another Annual General Meeting (AGM) within a month to select their representatives, paving the way for its return to the Olympic fold after a ban was imposed on it last year.

The agreement was reached at a crucial meeting with the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, with a focus on drawing a roadmap for India's return to the Olympic fold.

Most of the IOA delegates left for Lausanne on Monday for the May 15 meeting.

IOA Acting President V K Malhotra and IOC Member in India, Randhir Singh, boycotted the meeting, after the IOC agreed to include Hockey India General Secretary Narinder Batra and Jharkhand Olympic Association R K Anand in the IOA delegation for the meeting in addition to the four-member list submitted earlier.

The meeting was attended by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, Sports Secretary P K Deb, Beijing Olympics gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra and Olympian sailor Malav Shroff.

Earlier, Tarlochan Singh, one of the IOA delegates, had said that he was hopeful for a positive result as the objective of undertaking the trip to Lausanne was to remove all misgivings and wrong perceptions that the IOC has about the IOA.

He said the aim was to get the ban lifted and revive Indian sports.

The joint meeting was held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon local time. It was followed by the Indian delegation calling on IOC President Jacques Rogge.