KATHMANDU, July 26: President of Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) Jeevan Ram Shrestha has said that the court has paved the way for them to continue their official activities.
Shrestha also said that the NOC will now speed up preparations to organize the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) in Nepal.
The NOC is the internationally recognized sporting body of the country.
Currently, the team led by Rukma Shumsher Rana occupies the NOC building at Satdobato in Lalitpur.
Rana-led NOC team had occupied the building in March last year on the basis of the verdict given by the Supreme Court.
NOC Prez Shrestha defies court order to push forward controvers...
Shrestha said that his team will now enter into the NOC building with the help of the government. “Now we will seek help from the Ministry of Home Affairs and other local government bodies to take necessary steps,” said Shrestha, “Anyone who tries to obstruct us from entering the NOC building in order to continue the official activity will be responsible for contempt of the court.”
Shrestha also said that the NOC team led by him is in discussion with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and National Sports Council (NSC) among other important stakeholders. “There is no problem in the preparation of the SAG despite the existence of two NOC bodies. The government is monitoring the situation closely. We are also serious about hosting the event successfully,” Shrestha said.
However, there has been no notable work on the construction of the infrastructure needed to host the South Asian sports festival.
Nepal is scheduled to host the SAG in March 2019. But the date is likely to be pushed back as the Dasharath Stadium, the country’s only international stadium that was damaged in 2015 earthquake, is still not renovated.
Due to the lack of the government’s eagerness to take things forward, the 13th edition of the SAG could be delayed, which is set to raises questions over Nepal’s ability of organizing big international sports events.
Since almost no edition of the SAG has been hosted in the stipulated time, the South Asian Olympic Council is looking for a way to resolve it.
“From the 14th edition onwards, the nation showing interest of hosting the SAG will have to submit US$ 500,000 as guarantee,” informed Shrestha.
The Olympic committee dispute is not new. Shrestha had filed the case in the Supreme Court, making the Rukma Shumsher Rana led NOC, Verdict Implementation Directorate, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Lalitpur District Administration Office as defendants.
Shrestha claimed that the Supreme Court on Monday gave them recognition until the full verdict.
Supreme Court had recognized Rukma Shumsher Rana led NOC as official on October 4 of 2010 but the then internationally recognized NOC’s president Dhurba Bahadur Pradhan had appealed against the court verdict. However, Supreme Court then scrapped Pradhan’s appeal in 2011.
Meanwhile, Verdict Implementation Directorate had given order to the Ministry of Home Affairs to implement the Supreme Court’s verdict. On the basis of the order given by the directorate, Rukma Shumsher Rana’s team had captured the NOC building at Satdobato.
