Indian Olympic chief Suresh Kalmadi under IOC scrutiny

BERLIN |
Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:24pm IST

BERLIN (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee has requested information on Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi, facing allegations of corruption as head of the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games, it said on Tuesday.

Kalmadi, who was released from prison on bail last week after nine months, had been arrested in April 2011 on charges of inflating tenders worth millions of dollars for equipment used at the event. He is a lawmaker who has been suspended from India’s ruling Congress party.

“The IOC sent a letter to the IOA asking for a full and official report on the exact current situation of Mr Kalmadi before the courts of justice,” an IOC official said.

Kalmadi, who has been replaced by acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra as head of the IOA, has not resigned his post and is still listed as its president at the IOA website. (www.olympic.ind.in).

“The IOC asked the IOA to ensure the respect of the principles and rules of the IOC Code of Ethics and to preserve the reputation of the Olympic Movement in India.

“The IOC also indicated that it will prepare a report for its next Executive Board meeting based on the answers that the IOA provides,” the official said.

The $6 billion Commonwealth Games were billed as India’s answer to the 2008 Beijing Olympics but descended into rows over leaking stadiums, filthy athletes’ rooms and corruption scandals.

The next IOC Executive Board meeting will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 13-14.

The IOC sometimes goes as far as suspending National Olympic Committees for any breach of the movement’s domestic autonomy from governments or its Olympic charter.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Mark Meadows)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INtopNews/~3/UXCzOJbjoSo/olympics-india-kalmadi-idINDEE80N0DI20120124

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