The Delhi High Court appointed observer, SY Quraishi, has slammed the Equestrian Federation of India for its shoddy functioning, with scant respect for the National Sports Code.
The report submitted by Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner and also former Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sport, minces no words as he describes the functioning of the recalcitrant EFI in detail. He also talks of how the EFI, a National Sports Federation which was given one more chance to set its house in order by the Sports Ministry last November, does not respect its own athletes (riders) and never addresses their complaints.
It is well known and highlighted several times by the media how the EFI has never shown transparency in its functioning and derives its power by virtue of being an NSF which is controlled by senior Army officers.
The EFI has not only disrespected the Sports Code and ignored calls for setting its house in order, it has also mislead Quraishi, a court appointed observer, on many issues. His report has been sent to the Delhi High Court, the Indian Olympic Association, Sports Ministry and also the Sports Authority of India.
Matters became worse in the EFI from June-July 2018 when they started playing politics with the selection for the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games teams and victimised a few well-known riders like Colonel Rajesh Pattu and Shruti Vora. All this was done with the selection committee manipulating criteria.
Quraishi says the time has come when the EFI should be now run by a court-appointed administrator to set the house in order. As one who has dealt with several NSFs before, including the All India Football Federation, the veteran career-bureaucrat has also mentioned how membership in the EFI is arbitrary and they are granted voting rights.
It is important to note at a time when many NSFS have been given provisional recognition by the Sports Ministry last November for one year and been asked to amend their constitution suitably, the EFI has thus far not made any attempt to make changes.
The practice in the EFI has been to appoint QMG (Quarter Master General) as its president and another senior officer (Lt Gen) as vice president. That, however, was put on hold last year, when the Delhi High Court, in a matter relating to the EFI, said such appointments cannot take place.
“The constitution of the executive committee (of EFI) itself is not in accordance with the recommendations in the Sports Code under the model election guidelines, which prescribes a maximum of seven officer bearers and five EC members. The present constitution of the EC with nine office bearers and 12 members ought to be revisited,” writes Quraishi.
The court-appointed observer is also critical of the EFI for not holding EC meetings since February 2020. “The EC is to meet at least four times a year with the intervals between meetings not exceeding three months,” writes Quraishi. For its part, the EFI has come up with Covid-19 as a lame excuse for not holding meetings, which again is laughable. Many NSFs have held meetings online and some even conducted elections towards the end of 2020.
In a boost to the 25-odd state equestrian associations which have been crying for attention for very long, Quraishi points out how they “are not adequately represented.”
It is well known the EFI also faces several complaints from riders for “violation of technical guidelines for the 2019-20 National Equestrian Meet.” The same has been repeated even recently.
The Sports Ministry has given the EFI many chances to change their functioning and follow the Sports Code but the latest letter from Quraishi is a reminder of how he has closely seen them work in an unprofessional manner. Needless to mention, he also talks of how fresh elections in the EFI should not be held without sweeping changes in their own constitution where the Sports Code has to be followed.
For the record, well-known dressage rider Shweta Hooda also wrote several complaints to the EFI. As it went unheard, she wrote to Quraishi, who has been able to understand how the EFI is anti-rider.
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Mr. S. Kannan, Senior, Sports Journalist |
Mr Qureshi is a man of integrity