India elects new officials in bid to overturn Olympic ban

India’s suspended Olympic body elected world squash chief N Ramachandran as their president raising hopes of the country’s return to the Olympic fold after a 14-month absence.

Narayana Ramachandran of India was an unanimous choice for president in the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) elections in New Delhi. AP Photo/Victor R Caivano

India’s suspended Olympic body elected world squash chief N Ramachandran as their president on Sunday, raising hopes of the country’s return to the Olympic fold after a 14-month absence.

Ramachandran, whose elder brother N Srinivasan on Saturday was picked to lead the International Cricket Council, was an unanimous choice for president in the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) elections in New Delhi. Also elected unopposed were sports official Rajeev Mehta as secretary-general, and the country’s tennis chief, Anil Khanna, as treasurer.

Ramachandran, who made an unsuccessful bid last year to get squash into the Olympic Games, served as the IOA treasurer from 2008 to 2012 and has been president of the World Squash Federation since 2008.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) froze India’s membership in December 2012 and suspended it from the Games movement when the IOA elected a number of scandal-tainted officials to key posts.

The IOA, after initially refusing to keep tainted officials out, finally accepted an IOC ultimatum last December to revise its constitution and elect “clean” office-bearers in fresh elections.

Representatives from the IOC were present at yesterday’s elections, but it was unclear when India’s ban will be lifted.

The polls, which came two days after the start of the Winter Olympics, denied India’s three competitors in Sochi the opportunity to carry the Indian flag at the opening ceremony.

The team, led by luge exponent Shiva Keshavan in his fifth Olympics, are competing as independent athletes under the IOC flag.

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