The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) was suspended by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports on Saturday for failing to hold elections on time and for breaking the PCI constitution. The news was a major setback for the Indian athletes participating in the August–September 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
The government has also notified the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which is the worldwide governing body of the sport, about the PCI’s decertification and the establishment of an ad hoc committee made up of distinguished officials and athletes.
The suspension implies that Indian para-athletes would be barred from competing in any IPC-sanctioned competition, including this year’s Paralympic Games in Paris, under the national flag.
What are the reasons for the Paralympic committee ban?
The improper procedures at PCI made the move necessary. The choice has received support from coaches and para-athletes. Three justifications were provided by the ministry for the drastic measure in its letter of suspension.
“Because the PCI purposefully delayed electing a new executive committee, the government is forced to suspend PCI’s recognition with immediate effect until further orders. This decision is made in light of the importance of maintaining good governance and accountability standards in sports federations across the country as well as the demands of all national sports federations, the national Olympic Committee (NOC), and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) to strictly adhere to the sports code.
“Because the PCI acts as an NPC as well as an NSF for a few disciplines, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) is hereby directed to coordinate with the IPC to form an ad-hoc committee comprising eminent administrators and sportspersons to undertake these tasks performed by PCI to safeguard the interests of the Indian para-sportspersons and the para-sports disciplines, who will oversee the operations of the PCI, and conduct free, fair and transparent elections as per the extant instructions under the sports code along with the constitution of the PCI,” the ministry stated in its order suspending the organization.
History of elections
The latest PCI election was held in September 2019, however owing to a Delhi High Court ruling suspending the election notification dated 03.09.2019, the returning officer was unable to declare the results. The court, by judgement dated 27.01.2020, approved the declaration of the results of the election notified on 03.09.2019, subject to the subsequent orders to be issued in the abovementioned case.
In accordance with the foregoing order, the returning officer declared the election results on January 31, 2020, and the four-year term of the PCI’s executive committee (EC) concluded on January 31, 2024.
“We recall with gratitude the IPC’s excellent assistance in 2015, which enabled SAI to secure the participation of India’s para-athletes at the Rio Paralympics 2016 amid a similar suspension of the PCI. We seek the IPC’s assistance once more out of hope and respect for our ongoing collaboration. Collaboration is vital in forming the ad-hoc committee and assuring athletes’ participation in international events such as the Paris Paralympics 2024.”
