Archery Association of India granted recognition by sports ministry after 8 years

The Archery Association of India (AAI) was on Wednesday granted annual recognition by the sports ministry as a national sports federation (NSF) after remaining suspended for eight years. The Ministry has validated the elections held for new office-bearers in AAI on January 18, 2020.

The ministry informed that the recognition will be valid for one year. The ministry accepted the elections of AAI for a period of four years from 2020-2024 and put its stamp of approval on the elections of Arjun Munda as president, Pramod Chandurkar (secretary general) and Rajendra Singh Tomar (treasurer).

The ministry sent a four-page letter to the AAI penning down several clauses. It warned the AAI that its recognition will be withdrawn if a) the AAI’s constitution is violated; b) directions issued by the union government are not complied with; c) in the opinion of the union government, the federation is not functioning properly; d) the recognition has been obtained by submitting false information or by misrepresentation of facts; and e) the concerned international federation cancels affiliation or derecognises or disaffiliate the federation.

The World Archery (WA), the sport’s global governing body, and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) have already approved the AAI’s January elections and, accordingly, lifted their suspension. The need for the fresh elections was necessitated on the orders of the Delhi High Court in a writ petition dating back to 2010.

AAI’s recognition was withdrawn by the ministry on December 7, 2012 on account of its failure to conduct elections in accordance with the sports code despite the directions of the High Court. AAI was suspended after its president, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, had refused to demit the office in violation of the ministry’s age and tenure guidelines governing the sports code.