IOA chief PT Usha stands by CEO appointment amid wrangling

A day after 10 out of 15 members of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) wrote to PT Usha expressing resentment over the appointment of Raghuram Iyer as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the IOA president said there was “no question” of going back on Iyer’s appointment.
“I have full faith in my CEO. He is the right person to take Indian sports forward. He is a very competent person and there’s no question of reconsidering his appointment,” the former track queen said on the sidelines of an event hosted here by Delhi Sports Journalists Association (DSJA) where she was conferred with a Lifetime Achievement award.
“CEO was appointed through proper procedure and completely on merit. IOC (International Olympic Committee) also wants us to appoint good people on such key posts,” she added.
IOA later issued a statement that neither Iyer nor Usha had received the said letter from the EC. Calling the reports “unsubstantiated,” IOA said it was in touch with IOC’s Host Commission regarding hosting of 2030 Youth Olympics and 2036 Olympic Games.
“We would like to look at the future. It is important to focus on the upcoming Paris Olympics,” Usha said.
This is the first time IOA has appointed a professional to run the apex sports body. Usha made the announcement on January 5. However, EC members alleged a lack of transparency in the process.
The major bone of contention regarding Iyer’s appointment is his salary of ₹20 lakh per month, excluding perks, with the annual cost to IOA going up to 3 crore.
The EC deemed Iyer’s salary “shocking and imprudent” and said under IOA’s rules, its president does not have the authority to independently negotiate the CEO’s compensation or issue an appointment letter.
“This is not only illegal but also against every norm of good governance and morality. Hence, kindly note that since the appointment of CEO has not been approved by EC, ‘NO’ salary or any other form of payment can be made to the CEO or any vendor, party without running the process through the finance committee/EC, where anyone making any payment or getting into a financial transaction with IOA funds, will be personally liable, both financially and legally,” the letter, a copy of which is with HT, stated.
“In view of all these points, the letter of appointment issued to Mr lyer as CEO is null and void and his services are terminated with immediate effect. We propose that an appropriate person amongst the directors of IOA who have vast knowledge of running the affairs of the organisation be nominated to the post of CEO where Ms Mrinalini, Director, or Mr George Mathew have almost 25 years of experience in IOA having handled all issues pertaining to six Olympics, six Asian Games and six Commonwealth Games be appointed as the CEO with an emolument of ₹1.5 Iakh per month,” the letter added.
The signatories include Ajay Patel (senior vice-president), Gagan Narang (vice-president), Sahdev Yadav (treasurer), Kalyan Chaubey (joint secretary), Yogeshwar Dutt, Bhupender Bajwa, Harpal Singh, Amitabh Sharma, Dola Banerjee, and Rohit Rajpal (all EC members).
The EC has called for an emergency meeting on Feb 13 to further discuss the issue.