Sports bodies cold to Govt offer to hire CEOs

V K Malhotra said having a CEO paid by the government might mean surrendering control.

Top national sports federations have ignored a sports ministry proposal that they should appoint CEOs to run their affairs more professionally. The government had offered to pay for the CEOs.

Letters went out last month to 13 federations archery,athletics,badminton,boxing,football,canoeing/kayaking,gymnastics,hockey,rowing,shooting,swimming,wrestling and wushu and School Games Federation of India,seeking a response in two weeks. Currently,only hockey and basketball have CEOs as administrative heads.

Sports Authority of India (SAI) director general Jiji Thomson said the proposal was made because the government felt there was an absolute need to professionalize our federations. Only badminton,canoeing/kayaking,wrestling and SGFI got back.

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Most of them feel they already run the federations professionally and dont feel the need to appoint a CEO. Perhaps they doubt SAIs intentions as well, Thomson said. He added there was no point in implementing the plan unless a majority of federations agreed.

Archery chief V K Malhotra said having a CEO paid by the government might mean surrendering control. Its a very sensitive issue. We need to look at the pros and cons before accepting it, Malhotra said.

Canoeing asked SAI where the CEOs loyalties would lie,and another federation said theyd rather have SAI fund five coaches and a few support staff.

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