Complaint alleging misuse of funds filed against Secretary-General of FAI
Jun 29, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 29 : A complaint has been filed against Bashir Ahmad, the Secretary-General of Fencing Association of India (FAI), for allegedly collecting funds from the athletes in the name of visa, accommodation, and food.
The complaint has been addressed to Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, alleging that Ahmad was collecting the funds on the pretext that after getting funds from Sports Authority of India (SAI), he will refund them to the athletes.
Some serious allegations have been made in the complaint, alleging that Ahmad was arranging boarding and lodging in gurudwara and was collecting bills from restaurants to show to SAI to siphon off the funds released towards boarding and lodging of an athlete.
Although the complaint was made to the Sports Minister, there has been clout over the president of the Fencing Association of India in the Ministry, it will be very difficult for the ministry to reach out near to the truth. Further, the ministry also has its own limitations for making inquiries in such matters because there are hardly any paper trails in such cases.
As a result, the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been asked to intervene in the matter as he has the approach to athletes and has resources at his disposal to find out the actual truth.
The issue has been put forward to the president of IOA by Bholanath Singh, Associate Executive Council Member of the IOA.
In the inquiry committee, some male and female athletes may be involved who may meet the other athletes to collect the facts. Simultaneously some senior administrators and legal experts may also be involved to collect the data from SAI about the participation of Indian teams abroad and facts from the gurudwaras abroad where the teams have reportedly stayed.
The details of bills of boarding and lodging may also be collected from SAI and discreet inquiries may be made from the concerned restaurants about boarding and lodging of players in such restaurants and thereafter Secretary-General may be asked how he has made the payment whether in cash or through debit/credit cards.
Upon collecting the data facts, these then may be placed before the Ministry/SAI and relevant Committees of IOA for initiating action both legal and criminal against the culprits.
