Excelsior Sports Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 20: The National and International Footballers’ Forum today urged the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council to establish an ad hoc body to oversee fair and transparent elections for their association.
According to a spokesperson for the association, the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council should form a body that can hold elections in accordance with the constitution and sports norms, as there are concerns that some vested individuals are violating the rules.
He stated that the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council had earlier directed for publishing a voter list in print media at least 15 days before the election to any sports body to allow objections if any. “JKFA, too, issued similar instructions to its district units via letter no. 10169-74, Dt: 01-02-2022. A copy of this letter has also been endorsed to the Secretary of the J&K Sports Council, “he said.
He, however, added that they had learned that, surprisingly, JKFA has now advised the District Units to issue these lists at their own level to invite objections, in contravention of its own instructions. “District Unit Shopian, Rafiabad has already provided a list of eligible voters in some unknown paper known only to JKFA or the said district unit, he stated.
He claimed that JKFA is doing all of this to derail the transparent election process and protect its bogus and fraudulent voters. “A different situation than what is prevailing on the ground is being reported to the J & K Sports Council to pave the way for election rigging,” he said, adding that most of these District bodies at district level are nominated /adhoc bodies and therefore not eligible/ competent to finalise the voter list.
He said that instructions may be issued to JKFA to finalise the voter list of all eligible voters in various districts at the apex/central level and its immediate publication in print media in two leading papers both in Kashmir and Jammu. “Most of the district bodies are either nominated or Adhoc bodies, the election process may be initiated from the district level to have a truly representative body at the central/apex level,” he said.
He also stated that a request for the formation of a special committee to investigate the bungling and massive corruption in the Mufti Memorial Football Tournament and Khelo India against the current regime of JKFA has been made to the authorities.
He stated that the Court has already directed the J & K Sports Council to carry out the process of the JKFA election and that NIFF has already requested the authorities to appoint an ad hoc committee to look into all JKFA affairs, including the electoral process.
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