Sports ministry suspends Indian Paralympic body

Following in the footsteps of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the sports ministry also suspended the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) on Wednesday for gross negligence of athletes and poor management of the 15th National Para Athletics Championships in Ghaziabad March 20-22.

The sports ministry suspended the recognition of the National Sports Federation (NSF) with immediate effect till further orders. The IPC on April 15 suspended the PCI for the same charges, following which the sports ministry issued it a show-cause notice, asking why should it not be derecognised.

“In a communication sent to the PCI, the ministry has said that the decision has been taken in the wake of numerous serious complaints about poor management/conduct of the 15th National Para Athletics Championships held from March 20-22 in Ghaziabad in all aspects viz., logistics, technical, administrative, etc,” said a sports ministry statement.

The Sports Authority of India conducted an inquiry into the conduct of the competition and submitted its report to the sports ministry, who then asked the PCI why should it not be suspended. The inquiry found that the complaints against it were largely well-founded.

“The government of India is of the view that PCI has violated the terms and conditions of recognition as well as provisions of its own constitution,” said the statement. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on April 15 suspended the PCI on the same charge, following which the sports ministry issued a show-cause notice to the National Sports Federation.