Dubai: When the Indian tricolour made a return to the Olympic family at the Games Village of the Sochi Winter Olympics, it was quite an emotional moment even for a hardened administrator like Narayana Ramachandran – the newly elected president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
It may have marked the welcome end of a 14-month ban by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but Ramachandran knows it’s only the beginning of an arduous journey ahead. While restoring the credibility of IOA will certainly top his agenda, Ramachandran admits valuable time has been lost in the run-up to the Asian Games later this year, as well as in the preparation for the Rio Olympics in 2016.
India were suspended by the IOC in December 2012 for not holding elections according to its own constitution and for electing tainted officials. Few will disagree that the Chennai-based industrialist, who also wears the hat of the president of the world squash body, is cut out for the role — and will have a competent core team.
Ramachandran, who had been the treasurer of IOA from 2008 from 2012, will be backed by Rajeev Mehta and Anil Khanna, the president of the Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) and the All India Tennis Association (AITA) as his secretary general and treasurer respectively. He is also the younger brother of N. Srinivasan, the embattled president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the chairman-designate of the world cricket governing body ICC.
Ramachandran spoke to Gulf News about the enormity of the task at hand to his dreams of seeing squash as an Olympic sport.
GULF NEWS: How significant was it for you to see the Indian flag flying once again in Sochi?
N RAMACHANDRAN: It was very emotional and it was a tremendous feeling to have the Indian flag flying in Sochi.
GN: What will be your priority as the new president of the IOA?
NR: The first priority is to restore the credibility of the organisation and towards this, we have called for an executive committee meeting of the IOA this month.
GN: How do you plan to juggle your time, wearing the twin hats of president of the IOA as well as the world squash federation?
NR: I have no problems since the IOA as well as the World Squash Federation are staffed with experienced people who can run the organisation. All that needs to be done is to give them directions on policy.
GN: This being the year of Asian Games, what’s the target you plan to set for the national federations?
NR: The target will be to bring transparency in the selection process and greater accountability from the national sports federations.
GN: After being in exile for 14 months, do you feel India have lost out on valuable time to prepare for Rio Olympics and improve on their London showing?
NR: While many might not like my response, the answer to your question is definitely ‘yes’. The national sports federations who will be taking part in the Olympics will have to work overtime to ensure that we improve on our London showing.
GN: As an industrialist, do you plan to bring in an element of accountability on part of all the member bodies?
NR: Definitely we need to have greater accountability and transparency in the functioning of the IOA and also in the state Olympic associations and national sports federations.
GN: The last year or so had seen several leading Olympians (eg Abhinav Bindra and Mahesh Bhupathi) joining the issue against politicians running sport. Do you plan to involve some of them in your action plan?
NR: I definitely do not see any harm if an Olympian who is competent runs a National Sports Federation in India. However, having said that, it would be ideal if an experienced sports administrator having a background in that particular sport runs and administers the National Sports Federation.
GN: Finally, how do you plan to continue with the push for an Olympic berth for squash?
NR: Dr Thomas Bach, President of the IOC, has desired to study the extent to which sports and disciplines either relegated from or seeking inclusion in the Olympic programme could receive special treatment to be on the programme. We see this as a window of opportunity and we will definitely push for squash to obtain a Olympic berth.
