Usha fires fresh salvo in feud with EC, says Kalyan Choubey sent SGM agenda without authorisation

PT Usha. Pic/AFP

The war of words between PT Usha and members of the executive committee continues unabated with both parties trading allegations and counter-allegations against each other. On Thursday, it was the turn of the Indian IOA president to fire a fresh salvo and she alleged that joint secretary Kalyan Chaubey had issued an unauthorised agenda for the Special General Meeting, SGM, scheduled for October 25.

"It has come to my attention that Kalyan Chaubey, impersonating himself as the acting CEO of IOA, has issued an agenda using official IOA stationery for a Special General Meeting (SGM) to be held on October 25 in New Delhi. This action is both illegal and in violation of the IOA Constitution," IOA chief PT Usha said in a statement.

Usha made it clear that the current and only CEO of the IOA is Raghuram lyer, who officially joined the IOA on January 15, 2024. It is another matter that the Executive Committee has not endorsed Iyer's appointment, alleging that it was a unilateral decision by Usha with 12 of the 15 members raising questions on the hefty par-package proposed by the IOA president.

"Despite certain members of the IOA Executive Council (EC) denying his appointment and withholding his salary for the past nine months, Mr. lyer continues to serve in his role", citing that both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), Government of India, recognise Raghuram lyer as "the legitimate CEO of the IOA".

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"In accordance with Article 8.1 of the IOA Constitution, as the president of the IOA, I have already convened the SGM, with due notice issued on October 3, 2024. Further, I have not authorised Kalyan Chaubey, joint secretary of IOA to convene any meeting or promulgate an agenda for the SGM," she added.

Usha further claimed that Chaubey is impersonating himself as the acting CEO of the IOA.

"It is worth noting that Mr. Kalyan Chaubey is the official representative of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the SGM scheduled on 25 October 2024, which I have lawfully convened. He is also guilty of issuing a recognition to the Taekwondo Federation of India without the approval of the General Assembly, Therefore, this attempt to act as the acting CEO and issue a separate agenda for the same SGM raises serious concerns about the motives behind these actions," the statement read.

The IOA chief also alleged that she was approached by certain senior sports administrators, who requested her to withdraw the agenda for the SGM and call off the meeting.

"The illegal notice issued by Mr. Chaubey now confirms my belief that there is a group of individuals working behind the scenes to disrupt the functioning of the IOA. These individuals clearly have much to hide and are using select EC members to shield themselves from scrutiny," she said.

"I urge all stakeholders to recognise the legality of the SGM notice issued by my office on October 3 and to disregard any illegal actions that are in direct contravention of the IOA Constitution," she concluded.

The IOA chief has been embroiled in a battle for supremacy with the Executive Committee recently with 12 EC members, which include Olympic medallists like Gagan Narang and Yogeshwar Dutt, Sehdev Yadav, writing a letter to senior IOC official Jerome Poivey accusing the legendary athlete of running the organisation in an "autocratic" manner.

Most of the EC members have questioned the appointment of Iyer as IOA Chief Executive Officer in January 2024, calling it a unilateral decision by the President, and have refused to ratify it. On the other hand, Usha has slammed the committee members for not felicitating the Paris Olympics medallist.

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