KATHMANDU: Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) President Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan today accepted that they deliberately hid taekwondo ace Deepak Bista’s nomination as the Chef-de-mission for the Youth Olympic Games.

“As there was tension going on between the National Sports Council (NSC) and the NOC, we did not want to announce Bista’s nomination fearing severe consequences,” said Pradhan, who remained mum when Bista was banned for one year by the NSC accusing the player of breaching the rules, at a press meet today. “We thought announcement would have been a challenge to the NSC and the Youth and Sports Ministry. That’s why we kept it a secret,” he added.

Pradhan also refuted his General Secretary Jeevan Ram Shrestha’s claims that Bista was nominated the Chef-de-mission as an honour for the record-making player. “Bista is our member and we nominated him even before the player took part in the 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka,” claimed Pradhan.

The NOC President also said that he had talked to Bista before the taekwondo star left for Singapore to participate in the Chef-de-mission seminar. “As we could not participate in the taekwondo qualifying tournament, I had directed Bista to meet IOC officials and ask for wildcards,” he said, adding, “The move worked and the IOC is very much positive in granting taekwondo wildcards.”

So far, three athletes — Tilak Ram Tharu (100m and 200m), Rupa Buda (3,000m) and Manisha Adhikari (400m) — have been confirmed to participate in the Games slated for August in Singapore. “The prospect of taekwondo is bright and we are looking forward to send four players to the Games,” added Pradhan. He also said the wildcards were given to athletics due to the unavailability of suitable players in shooting and archery.

After the controversy erupted, Bista has said that he would not go to Singapore as the Chef-de-mission but Pradhan said he was not aware of such developments. “We have not withdrawn his name as he (Bista) has yet to inform about his intention,” said Pradhan.

Regarding the dissolution of Nepal Kabaddi Association (NKA) and Nepal Gymnastics Association (NGA) by the NSC, Pradhan said the NOC would always stand by the associations affiliated with them. “It is our duty to save the association affiliated with us and we will always stand by their side,” said Pradhan, who is the President of the dissolved NGA.

NOC President was left speechles when asked why they kept mum during Jeevan Ram Shrestha’s stint at the NSC when 15 national associations were dissolved. Shrestha was NOC General Secretary when he, in the capacity of the NSC Member Secretary, dissolved the national associations.

The NSC dissolved the NKA as per the probe committee reports that the NKA President Sunil Rajkarnikar had hindered the national dignity by fighting with the officials during the 11th SA Games in Dhaka. “How can the NSC take actions against Rajkarnikar? We had sent NSC Member Secretary Hari Babu Chaudhary as the Chef-de-mission and he should be responsible for all the mess,” said Pradhan, adding, “Chef-de-mission should be penalised, not others.”