Ranchi, Dec. 18: The Jharkhand Olympic Association has taken strong exception to the presence of some office-bearers of state sports associations at a meeting called on December 2 by sports director Amitabh Chaudhary to assess their preparations for the 34th National Games.

The state’s apex sports body has objected to the participation of those office-bearers, who had been removed from the National Games Organising Committee (NGOC) and various sub-committees.

JOA secretary general S.M. Hashmi, also the organising secretary of NGOC, wrote to Chaudhary on December 6: “It is requested that only authorised office-bearers are allowed to attend meetings on the 34th National Games, since only JOA is entitled to send entries (athletes) for the Games, according to the National Games manual of the Indian Olympic Association.”

Besides pointing out that “it was not feasible to inform each and every office-bearer of the state sports associations on such a short notice”, Hashmi also attached a list of authorised office-bearers of the state bodies with his letter.

According to those who attended the meeting, it was a good initiative, because the sports associations informed Chaudhary that they needed to check the equipment purchased for their respective disciplines, as they had neither been consulted nor asked about their requirements earlier.

Interestingly, according to Hashmi’s list, only 26 state sports associations are “affiliated” to JOA, while three each are in the “provisionally affiliated” and “recognised” categories, and four have been slotted as “recommended”.

Of these, Jharkhand Wrestling Association (JWA) has been identified as “disaffiliated by JOA and running under JOA”. At its special general meeting in September, JOA had decided to “disaffiliate” JWA, after its secretary Bhola Nath Singh had filed complaints with the vigilance department, alleging misuse of state funds by NGOC office-bearers, namely R.K. Anand (working chairman), S.M. Hashmi (organising secretary), M.K. Pathak (treasurer) and P.C. Mishra (then director).

In a follow-up, the vigilance department raided the premises of Mishra and seized documents on December 15.

Interestingly, the JOA list has included four sports — football, karate, sepak takraw and squash — under the “recommended category”.

As a result, an “interim committee”, with Najam Ansari as president and Ghulam Rabbani as secretary, has been formed for the Jharkhand Football Association. For karate, a sub-committee has been formed under the title of Jharkhand Karate Affairs.

Likewise, the JOA list has Jharkhand Sepak Takraw Affairs, to be looked after by Rajiv Mishra of Ranchi, and Jharkhand Squash Affairs, to be supervised by B.K. Mishra of Dumka.