New Delhi:
A day after parting ways with the Sports Authority of India, IOA Secretary General Randhir Singh today resigned from the Governing Body of the National Dope Testing Laboratory after the Sports Ministry had not invited him for the National Sports Award ceremony here on Sunday.
"I hereby tender my resignation from the Governing Body of the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) with immediate effect," Randhir wrote in a letter addressed to Sports Minister M S Gill.
"I am resigning from the doping body also. I have got a notice today saying there will be a meeting of the NDTL the day after and my name has been included in the list. But I have decided to resign and will not reconsider my decision," he told a press conference here.
Disappointed with the Sports Ministry's behaviour, Randhir, who is also the Secretary General of the Olympic Council of Asia, had yesterday resigned from the Governing Body of SAI.
Randhir said he was deeply hurt by the Sports Ministry's attitude towards him and as a former sportsperson he deserved love and respect from the government.
"As a former sportsperson, I wanted some respect from the government but it has failed to show any respect to me. I don't have any vested interest in serving sports nor I am heading any national federation," he said.
"I have got a letter from Joint Secretary (Sports Ministry) Injeti Srinivas, saying the mistake was 'unintentional'. The Awards function is the only big thing the government organises annually and if you can't show this much love and affection to former players by inviting them then I don't want to remain there," added Randhir, who is also the International Olympic Committee member from the country.
The Arjuna awardee, however, said his decision had nothing to do with the infighting between the Sports Ministry and IOA over the tenure and age limitation guidelines.
"I have not taken this decision because of an infighting between Ministry and the IOA. It's not shadow boxing but a fully personal decision. I will continue with the OC post and also as a member of the IOA," he said.
In another veiled attack on the government for its tenure limitation guidelines, Randhir said if the country does not follow IOC Charter then the "beautiful" stadiums coming up for the Commonwealth Games may end up hosting only local tournaments.
"The move against IOC Charter may prove to be a dampener. IOC says you follow the rule, otherwise, the beautiful venues will be staging some local events and the door of the international events will be shut," he said.
"You saw what happened in case of Hockey India. What will you get by defaming the country?" he asked.
Randhir also hoped that the October 3-14 mega-event would be a huge success and thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for intervening into the matter in the wake of the negative reports surrounding the Games' preparations.
"We are very much grateful to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for taking the initiative. There has been sea-change in the last 10 days, its phenomenal," he said.
The Prime Minister recently visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue of the Games where the opening and closing ceremony will be held, and asked the authorities concerned to redouble the effort to finish all the works.
Asked about the Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell's recent visit to the city, he said, "Most of the venues and the Games Village were ready by the time he came.
"There are surely some minor problems but all of those are being taken care of properly."
Randhir also accepted that Indian athletes have missed out on home advantage because of the delay in the completion of the stadiums on time but said the CWG Organising Committee could not be blamed for that.
"Some of the venues have hosted the trial events but the Indian players have not got the opportunity to practice there in regular basis. We have lost the advantage definitely. But you can't hold OC responsible for that," he said.
"Foreigners will be arriving from September 16 when the Games Village will be opened and training starts from September 23. By that time all the facilities will be ready," said Randhir, who is also the Vice Chairman of OC.
He also felt that Olympic silver medallist shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore should have attended the trials for the Delhi Games rather than protesting against the format.
"As a player I can say that if you are not selected in the trial you are not selected. If the new selection policy is not right in its present from, then the criteria should have been opposed earlier," said Randhir, who himself was an Olympian shooter.
The Games theme song might have come for sharp criticism from different quarters but Randhir said he liked the composition of the Oscar winning music director A R Rahman.
"It's good. Rahman is a great composer. I am a bit conservative, but the song has tried to touch the likings of the new generation and our target is also the youth. So I think it will create its appeal slowly with the time," he said.