Goa told to fix Games dates or else pay Rs 10 crore fine

Goa was today asked to fix a date for next year's National Games within a month or else pay a hefty fine of Rs 10 crore while the Indian Olympic Association will increase annual monetary assistance to National Sports Federations and its state units to Rs 5 lakh in important decisions taken at the IOA's Annual General Meeting held here.
The IOA also decided to back the All India Tennis Association and Judo Federation of India in their fight against the Sports Ministry which had asked the heads of the two NSFs to step down under the contentious tenure limit provisions of the Sports Code.

Goa, which had won the hosting rights of the 2016 National Games, has been tardy in the preparation for the multi-sporting event and has not yet fixed the dates despite repeated request from the IOA. The IOA had warned Goa in August that the Games may be shifted to another state if it does not act fast.
The AGM today discussed the issue and decided to give Goa one more time to fix the date of hosting the Games. The state has been asked to get back to the IOA within a month regarding the dates of the Games or else it will be fined Rs 10 crore.

"Goa has been told repeatedly to fix the date for the Games but it has not done that so far. The House expressed displeasure on this and decided that Goa will intimate to the IOA the dates of the Games within one month or it will be fined Rs 10 crore," IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta told PTI.
Andhra Pradesh also submitted its bid to host the 2019 National Games by depositing Rs 50 lakh security amount.

Mehta also said that the House agreed to IOA's proposal not to take any monetary assistance from the Sports Ministry.
In another significant development, the IOA also decided to give each NSF and state Olympic associations Rs 5 lakh per annum, an increase of Rs 2 lakh from the amount received by them currently.

"The President said that the IOA has been able to attract sponsorships from the private sector and so the amount has been increased to Rs 5 lakh. He said if more sponsorship comes during the year, it will be increased to Rs 6 lakh," another top official who attended the AGM said.
Regarding the Sports Code, the House agreed that the tenure restrictions as applied to the IOA will be the same as in the case of NSFs also.
The Sports Ministry had asked AITA chief Anil Khanna and JFI President Mukesh Kumar to quit for allegedly flouting the tenure guidelines of the Sports Code, which demands a cooling-off period of four years before a secretary seeks re-election after two successive terms.

The duo had told the Ministry that the provision of cooling-off period in the tenure guidelines was applicable to only a secretary/treasurer seeking re-election to the same post (secretary/treasurer) after serving two consecutive terms. They said that the provisions will not apply to a secretary/treasurer seeking election for president.
"The House was unanimous that NSFs should not buckle down under such pressure from the Sports Ministry," the official said.
The House also reviewed the preparations of the upcoming South Asian Games to be held in Guwahati and Shillong from February 5-16. It was decided that badminton event will be shifted from Shillong to Guwahati as the venue at the Meghalaya capital was found to lack facilities to stage the event.