Organizing a press conference in the capital on Sunday, a group coordinated by Nepal Volleyball Association (NVA) President Dan Bahadur Tamang claimed that the elective general assembly of the NOC was against its own charter and has asked the leadership to conduct the election following proper procedure. The group also forwarded a six-point demand."It feels sad to speak against NOC, the organization that I have been involved with. As an umbrella organization of various sports organizations, the Olympic Committee must follow standard norms (Olympic charter). But if the committee itself does not follow established norms, what would be the condition of other sports bodies affiliated with it?" questioned Tamang.
Claiming that NOC was non-transparent, he said he wished that the office bearers of NOC get elected in a transparent manner. He also fumed over NOC's decision of handpicking former NVA chief Ganga Bahadur Thapa as a representative for election. "How could they pick representative from NOC while I am the elected president of NVA."
Reading out points from the statute of NOC, Tamang said, "According to the statute of NOC, the notice for election must be published 21 days prior to the election and the voters must be informed about it. Similarly, candidacies must be filed 10 days prior to the election and the short bio-data of candidates must be published seven days prior to the election date. But it is unfortunate that we are not informed about the election even five days prior to scheduled election date," he said. "Thus, I ask the NOC to terminate the current process and start a new process giving at least 21 days to fulfill these procedures."
Pointing to Jeevan Ram Shrestha, the general secretary of NOC and the expected candidate of president, he said, "I have no objection to Shrestha being elected as president. I also want him to be the president and we are also from the same political party (CPN-UML). I want him to get elected in a transparent manner," he shared.
Speaking at the same function, Pitambar Timalsina, the former Vice-president of National Sports Council (NSC) and acting president of Nepal Badminton Association, said the scheduled election was set to be held with the motive of handpicking people against the spirit of Olympic Charter. "As many as nine member associations affiliated with NOC and 12 other associations who want membership of the body are against the election. If they don't terminate the current election process by tomorrow (Monday) evening, we will start fresh protests."
The press statement issued by the group contains signatures of chiefs of volleyball, karate (federation), badminton, wrestling, kabaddi, wushu, rafting and cannoning and shooting associations. However, only the chiefs of volleyball, badminton and shooting associations are recognized by the NOC while the chiefs of other associations are mentioned different than what were named today.
NOC dispute not yet over: Singh
Vice president of the Nepal Olympic Committee recognized by the Supreme Court of Nepal Kishor Bahadur Singh on Sunday refuted that the dispute between two Olympic committees was over.
"It was true that we had struck a one-point deal on July 22 to end the dispute. But it is not yet over. We have formed a four-member dialogue committee to discuss and settle the dispute. However, we have not yet reached any conclusion," said Singh, who is also former member secretary of NSC.
"We are not against the election process, but we believed that election must he held following standard norms," he said.
"The dialogue committee is entrusted with ending dispute within various associations and withdrawing complaints from the Supreme Court once all disputes are settled. But, the two committees have not sat for talks since the July 22 agreement," Sing said.
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