According to NSC Member Secretary Yubaraj Lama, the board meeting unanimously took the decision and the cabinet will take a decision on the issue soon. [break]
"Both the committees had drawn controversies and their activities had brought national shame. In this scenario, the NSC board decided to recommend the government to dissolve both the committees," said Lama. "Since the issue of Olympics is a national issue, we forwarded the proposal to the government for final decision," he added.
Two different NOCs -- one led by Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan and another by Rukma Shamsher Rana -- have been claiming legitimacy and the Supreme Court had decided in November 2010 to recognize the NOC led by Rana.
However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been reiterating that it only recognizes the NOC led by Pradhan. IOC has made it clear that only IOC is authorized to recognize a national olympic committee as per the Olympic Charter.
In November 2011, NSC Member Secretary Lama had decided to support the NOC led by Pradhan after he received a letter from IOC.
Lama´s accusations
Member Secretary Lama said non-transparent actions of Pradhan-led committee forced NSC to take the harsh decision on Sunday. "NSC had been supporting the Pradhan-led committee after receiving the IOC letter but they could not maintain transparency. They registered their committee in Doti as the National Olympic Committee. They even tried to register NOC in the Company Registrar Office. They tried to ignore state authority and bypassed NSC in selecting players and coaches for the London Olympics. Their financial transactions are not transparent," accused Lama.
"On the other hand, the role of Rana-led committee has been confined to issuing press releases and quarrelling with the other committee," he added.
NOCs´ reaction
Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, president of the IOC-recognized NOC, termed the NSC´s decision as a stupid act aimed at thwarting the Olympic movement.
"NSC leadership kept the prime minister in the dark and took the stupid decision," said Pradhan. "NSC leadership knows it well that the government is neither authorized to form nor dissolve an Olympic committee," he added.
"I hope the prime minister will consult experts and sports veterans before taking the final decision," said Pradhan.
Jeewan Ram Shrestha, general secretary of the Pradhan-led committee, termed the NSC decision as meaningless. "IOC had already made it clear to the NSC leadership that IOC would not entertain even the Supreme Court verdict," said Shrestha.
Meanwhile, Purushottam Prasad Shrestha, treasurer of the Rana-led committee, said the NSC decision is a contempt of court as it challenged the Supreme Court verdict. "The NSC leadership and the prime minister should know that dissolving our committee is a contempt of court. They must have known about the consequences from a similar incident in Pakistan recently," said Shrestha.
London Olympics participation in jeopardy
If the government endorses the NSC decision, Nepal´s participation in the London Olympics could be in jeopardy.
"Unless and until representatives from our committee attend the teams meeting prior to London 2012 opening, none of the Nepali team members will get a chance to enter the Olympic village or to participate in the games," said Shrestha. "If the government takes an unfavorable decision and bars us from attending the meeting, Nepal´s participation would not be possible," he added.
"We´ll try to attend the meeting at any cost and facilitate our athletes´ participation at the games," said Pradhan. "We´ll wait and see for the government to take the final decision," he added.
Meanwhile, Member Secretary Lama said that it would be too early to predict the consequences of action taken against the NOC bodies. "I think the government will take the final decision sooner than later," said Lama.
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