Mud slinging in GFI, now Delhi unit blames its president

If it was the Gymnastics Federation of India that alleged interference in its functioning by the Indian Olympic Association...

If it was the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) that alleged interference in its functioning by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), today it was the turn of one of the GFI’s affiliates — the Delhi unit — to make allegations against the outgoing president, Sudhir Mittal.

In a letter addressed to IOA, honourary secretary of Delhi Gymnastics Association (DGA) Ram Dulare has welcomed the parent body’s move to appoint an ad hoc committee to look into the affairs of the GFI in the light of the expiry of the previous body’s term.

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Contrary to claims by Mittal who, while addressing the media yesterday, said that 18 of the 27 units had attended the Jodhpur general council meet to elect a new body, Dulare contends that “the so-called meeting conducted at Jodhpur by a few units was not attended by the genuine members, rather, some outside and unauthorised members were procured to sit on behalf of different state units, whereas members and states like Delhi, UP, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, J & K, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Railways, Assam and several other units did not send their authorised representatives in the meeting.”

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Dulare also accuses the outgoing president of not getting the mandatory accounts passed at the general body meeting as per the norm. He says: “During the General Body Meeting it is mandatory to pass the accounts, whereas, no supporting documents along with agenda related to accounts were sent as per the constitution. Even in the last meeting accounts were not passed.”

According to Dulare, Mittal has hardly shown any interest in the promotion of gymnastics and was always conspicuous by his absence at the national championships in the last four years. “He (the president) never got accounts properly audited or passed annually which is a mandatory requirement. He continuously showed little regard to the constitution of Gymnastics Federation of India. The grave situation needs to be redressed in the interest of the gymnastics in India,” concludes Dulare.

When contacted for his reaction on Dulare’s allegations, Mittal not only denied them all but also added: “There are always some units that have objections. As far as I am concerned, accounts relating to the period 2005-06 have already been passed by the general body and the audited accounts for year 2006-07 are pending with the GFI’s finance committee. Once it clears them, they will be presented to the general body members.”