IOA official enquires if athletes paid expenses of 2018 Kho Kho C’ship

New Delhi, June 19 (IANS) An Associate Executive Council member of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has on Friday written to Sports Secretary Ravi Mittal demanding an investigation into whether the Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) arranged funds to send a team to England for an international event in September 2018 without any grants from the Ministry by demanding fees from the athletes themselves.

Bholanath Singh says in the letter that the KKFI had told its affiliates in a letter dated June 14, 2018 that all expenses will have to be taken care of by the latter. The tournament itself was from September 1 to 4. He then states that the KKFI had written to the ministry six days after the tournament had ended seeking reimbursement for the costs incurred through the course of the trip.

“It indicates that KKFI was not sanctioned/given advance grant for meeting the expenditure for the event,” said Singh.

“The President of the Kho-Kho Federation (Sudhanshu Mittal) who claims himself to be very big politician and a big man however, was not able to arrange fund for a single event and was forcing the affiliate units to arrange the funds.

“It is obvious when such a large personality as a President of KKFI is not coming forward for arranging the funds for a international event, then how the affiliated units would have arranged the funds.

“In all probabilities demand for funds would have percolated down to the hard earned money of parents/Athletes.”

Singh also alleges that there are no entries for the event in the KKFI’s balance sheet for 2018/19.

“Only Annexure “D” on Projects indicates un-utilized amount of Rs.18,63,881 against the heading “International Kho-Kho Championship”,” he says.

“There is every apprehension that the funds received, if any, from Government could have been siphoned off by the people who matter and at that point of time had financial control.”

–IANS

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