IOA holds back scholarship of skier Arif Khan, PT Usha intervenes

Delhi: The Olympic Bhawan situated in the Qutub Institutional Area of New Delhi is usually a quiet place but these days it has become a huge battlefield for the infighting between officials of the Indian Olympic Association.

One such infighting incident recently resulted in the body not disbursing the scholarship fund sent by the International Olympic Committee to Winter Olympian Arif Khan.

Funds held back

The IOC approved a scholarship of $18,000 for Arif's preparation for the Milano Cortina Games under the Olympic Solidarity program.

The first installment of the scholarship worth $6,000 was transferred by the IOC to IOA's finance committee on the 8th of May but it was held back despite numerous requests from the athlete.

Despite PT Usha asking for the funds to be disbursed twice, the finance committee led by Ajay Patel didn't transfer the money and instead started questioning the eligibility of Arif Khan for the same.

In the end, PT Usha decided to write to Edward Kensington, the Olympic Solidarity Fund Asia Manager and asked him to disburse the money directly to the athlete's account.

"In order to ensure that the athlete receives the necessary support as soon as possible, I would propose that the IOC releases the funds directly to the athlete instead of routing through the IOA to avoid further disruptions to the athlete's training program," read the letter sent by Usha to Edward, which is in the possession of The Bridge.

Arif, meanwhile, told The Bridge over a phone call that he has been relentlessly reaching out.

"I have been writing them constantly to release my funds. It's been more than four months. Usha mam also intervened twice and they didn't do it."

"Although Usha maam has resolved the issue and I thank her, this is a case of negligence and ignorance," Arif added, with more than just a hint of disappointment in his tone.

Edward also assured Arif that the funds would be disbursed to his personal bank account.

"We made a first payment to your NOC on 8 May 2024 of USD 6,000 for your scholarship for the period of March to June 2024. We have noted that this money has not been transferred to you by your NOC yet. Indeed, due to an internal dispute within your NOC, the release of the payment has still not been blocked. Our international relations and governance manager is in works behind the scenes in cooperation with your NOC to resolve this situation,” Kensington wrote in his letter to Arif.

“In parallel, we have now started the process with your NOC to request your NOC to provide back to the IOC the amount of scholarship already paid to your private bank account by wire transfer. We thank you for your understanding,” he added.

All is not well in the Indian Olympic Association

IOA has become a huge battlefield of egos and the executive committee members are at loggerheads with PT Usha since the appointment of new CEO Raghuram Iyer.

Last week, PT Usha issued a show-cause notice to IOA treasurer Sahdev Yadav.

The show cause notice was issued to highlight the issue that Sahdev is ineligible to compete in the election for the treasurer post.

With the fighting visible in public, the IOC is keeping a close watch on the situation of IOA and doing its bit to resolve the crisis.

While they have been patient, if episodes like these become a constant occurrence, their patience might run out.