V. K. Malhotra requests Sports Ministry to appeal in court

The All India Sports Council president Vijay Kumar Malhotra has appealed to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju to call an urgent meeting of all stakeholders to end the impasse following the non-renewal of affiliation of 54 National Sports Federations. In a letter to the Sports Minister, Mr. Malhotra pointed out, the decision to withdraw recognition of NSFs would “badly affect the preparation and training of sportspersons of all Olympic sports in India as Sports Ministry grants funding and permissions only to recognised NSFs for national camps and international tournaments.” He further said, “The ongoing COVID pandemic has affected the sports training and preparation as all sports activities were on standstill for the last four months, but once the sports resume and preparation of the Olympics gets underway, the present stand-off could delay administrative decisions and that in turn, can hamper the training of athletes.” Eighty-eight year old Mr. Malhotra, former president of Archery Association of India and a former Acting president of the Indian Olympic Association, requested the Minister to “appoint the Attorney General/Solicitor General to represent the case and immediately appeal in the High Court and Supreme Court to annul the High Court directive to withdraw the recognition of practically all sports federations of the country.” He made a plea for a meeting of the Minister with the members of the IOA, NSFs and AICS to sort out the matter.