KATHMANDU, April 21: Conflict between National Sports Council (NSC) and Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) recognized by International Olympic Committee (IOC) has resurfaced again after a five-month long truce.
The latest flare up came after NOC forwarded the names of karate referees to Asian Karate Federation (AKF) to participate in the referee licensing course in Malaysia on the recommendation of Nepal Karate Federation (NKF) led by Purendra Lakhe and also hesitantly forwarded the recommendation of rival Nepal Karate Federation led by Dawa Gurung.[break]
NSC had dissolved NKF led by Lakhe and formed new committee under Gurung´s leadership last October. NSC Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama is the patron of the Gurung led NKF.
Though NOC forwarded recommendations of both NKF committees to AKF, NSC Member Secretary Lama is furious over NOC´s step to recognize Lakhe led committee.
Lama sent a letter to NOC recently stating that he would not go to London Olympics as chef-de-mission unless and until NOC clarifies the selection of players for the Olympics.
"We are yet to know how they selected players for wild card entries for the London Olympics," said Lama to Republica. "I have been working to end the controversies about the legitimacy of NOC, but the NOC leadership has been defining Olympic Charters only to protect some handful and corrupt persons," Lama added.
NSC had decided to recognize the NOC led by Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan five months ago after the former received a letter from IOC stating that only Pradhan led committee could use the Olympics rings and its name in Nepal. Two different NOCs have been staking their claim for a few years and the Supreme Court decided in November 2010 to recognize the organization led by Rukma Samsher Rana.
NOC General Secretary Jeewan Ram Shrestha said that the two sports bodies - NOC and NSC - still have some issues unresolved. "We are yet to resolve some issues but we are co-operating with each other," said Shrestha.
He termed the Karate controversy as a minor one. "Two NKF bodies are in existence. NOC could not recognize the new committee formed by government agency´s interference. We denounce government interference on principle," said Shrestha. "However, taking a practical route, we forwarded the recommendation of both NKF bodies," added Shrestha.
NOC board met on Friday to discuss the latest development. "The souring relation between NSC and NOC was the main agenda of Friday´s meeting," said a NOC source. "Our president informed the meeting that NOC would write to NSC soon in a soft tone not to let the relation soured more," the source added.