IOC fixes date for meeting with IOA, Sports Ministry

The International Olympic Committee has fixed the dates of the joint meeting with the Indian Olympic Association and Sports Ministry in the second week of next month to find a way towards resolving the issues that led to the country's ban from the Olympic family.

In a letter written to V K Malhotra, the acting chief of the IOA before it was banned on December 4 last, and IOC member in India Randhir Singh, the IOC said the joint meeting could be held on April 11, 12, 13 or 16 at its headquarters in Lausanne.

"Thank you very much for your letter of 6 March. Please note that we would be available for a joint meeting in Lausanne on 11, 12, 13 or 16 of April," the letter said.

"We therefore request that you coordinate with the Sports Ministry and you confirm a suitable date to us by the end of this week," said the letter written jointly by Pere Miro, NOC Relations Director of the IOC, and Husain Al-Musallam, Director General and Technical Director of Olympic Council of

Asia.

"We thank you also for your efforts to ensure that some sort of consensus is reached with the Sports Ministry prior to this joint meeting. We are optimistic that, with the cooperation of all concerned parties, a reasonable agreement and roadmap can be drafted to resolve the situation," it said.

Last week, the IOC had asked the IOA in a letter to fix the dates of the joint meeting before the end of this month.

But, it is learnt that Malhotra had sought time and requested for the meeting to be held next month.

The Olympic parent body had said that the meeting would discuss all the pending issues with the aim to hold a free and fair election under a revised IOA constitution.