Usha vs ‘Dozen’: 12 Executive Council members write to IOC accusing IOA top boss of ‘autocratic’ functioning

PTI, Sep 28, 2024, 7:14 PM IST

P T Usha (credit: PTI / file)

New Delhi: The feud between Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha and revolting Executive Council members took another ugly turn after a dozen of them shot off a letter to senior IOC official Jerome Poivey accusing the legendary athlete of running the organization in an “autocratic” manner.

During Thursday’s meeting, there was a bitter confrontation during the IOA meeting where the embattled Usha outrightly rejected their appeal of removing Raghuram Iyer from CEO’s post.

In a letter to Poivey, the head of Institutional Relations and Governance at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who attended the stormy IOA Executive Council meeting via video-conference, the 12 EC members said they want the the national body to be governed “democratically”.

Usha, on her part, has already said that the appointment of Iyer was done by strictly adhering to the IOA constitution in an EC meeting on January 5, which was video-graphed, and there was no reason to backtrack from that decision.

The EC members wrote to Poivey that they will re-advertise for the position of the IOA CEO, “aiming to appoint a suitable candidate within the next two months collectively and along with the president”.

“While appreciating your understanding, we are deeply concerned with the conduct of the IOA President, whose autocratic behaviour has always been regrettable, and we also regret subjecting you to such an experience which has become a norm for her to run down the views and concerns of her colleagues in every single meeting or opportunity.

“Her approach of ‘My way or the Highway’ contradicts the democratic principles envisioned in the IOA constitution. While we trust that you would believe the efforts of all Council members is to have an approach of inclusivity and consensus while aligning opinions in diversity,” they said in the letter sent on Friday.

Senior vice president Ajay H Patel, vice presidents RajLaxmi Deo and Gagan Narang, Treasurer Sahdev Yadav, Joint Secretaries Alaknanda Ashok and Kalyan Chaubey, other Executive Council members Amitabh Sharma, Bhupender Singh Bajwa, Rohit Rajpal, Dola Banerjee, Harpal Singh and Yogeshwar Dutt signed the letter.

Chaubey and Harpal had joined Thursday’s EC meeting online, where Usha had rejected the demand of the majority members to remove Iyer.

Interestingly, both sides have different versions about Poivey’s intervention during Thursday’s EC meeting.

“We are appreciative that you ultimately stepped in and clarified to the President and the entire Council that the organization must be governed democratically, with the participation, inclusivity and consensus of the entire Executive Council with majority.

“We appreciate your reiteration at the end of the meeting that decisions within the IOA should be made by a simple majority and for reinforcing this point to the President,” the 12 EC members wrote to Poivey.

Usha, on the other hand, had said after Thursday’s meeting that Poivey counselled the revolting EC members to ratify Iyer’s appointment.

“In the last minute (of the meeting), Jerome was telling them (the EC members) that you should not do like this, you should ratify this (appointment of Iyer). I am saying as I want to help you,” Usha had said.

She also said that the revolting EC members had earlier in the month assured Poivey that they would ratify Iyer’s appointment.

“The last time when he (Jerome) came to Delhi for an OCA function, we all were having a chat informally and he told me to call an EC meeting and negotiate the salary of the CEO and resolve the issue.

“At that time all these people (revolting EC members) agreed and now they are changing their stand. So, he (Jerome) was also wondering like ‘the last time you (EC members) had agreed to salary negotiation and now you are telling the process to start again, how is it possible?” she countered.

“I feel so bad for him and I said sorry to him also at the end,” said Usha.

The bone of contention is the Rs 20 lakh per month salary for Iyer, along with other perks.

Usha had said she offered to renegotiate Iyer’s salary in Thursday’s meeting but the 12 EC members were adamant about starting the process afresh.

She said the latest development could jeopardise India’s chances of bidding for the 2036 Olympics.

“Only after the appointment (of the CEO) was done, the Future Host Commission agreed to have a dialogue with us, otherwise they would not agree to it. The CEO will have to lead the negotiations, we have to show professionalism, otherwise how would we got to present our bid?” she asked.

“They want to re-initiate the whole process. This can jeopardise India’s chances of bidding for and hosting the 2036 Olympics. I am not going to accept this. I have told this to the IOC,” she had asserted.” She has already sent an e-mail to Poivey, stating that “the purported Minutes of Meeting jointly signed by the 10 EC members (on Thursday) is null and void”.

The revolting members had said in the ‘minutes’ that “acting CEO Kalyan Chaubey, who is the Joint Secretary of the IOA, shall continue to discharge the duties as per the provisions laid out in the Constitution”.