Athletes from India will not be allowed to compete under the country’s name and flag at the Olympics and other international sports events unless the na-tion’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) resolves governance issues in the next three months.
The International Olympic Committee Executive Board announced Thursday a final warning for India’s NOC, noting “ongoing internal disputes, governance shortcomings and continuing court cases.”
The board will consider an immediate suspension of the NOC at its next meeting in December if the NOC does not “address and resolve its governance issues to the IOC’s satisfaction” and hold “its quadrennial elections in accordance with the Olympic Charter.”
The IOC board said India’s quadrennial elections scheduled for December 2021 have not been held.
If suspended, India’s athletes “would no longer be able to represent the country and compete under the country’s flag/name at the Olympic Games and other international sports events,” according to the IOC board. In the past, athletes from suspended NOCs have competed independently or as neutral athletes.
India, the world’s second-most-populous nation, earned seven medals at the Tokyo Games, its most ever, including its first track and field gold medal from Neeraj Chopra in the men’s javelin.
India’s NOC was previously banned in 2012 (after the London Olympics) and reinstated in 2014.—AFP
