Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 6:

The two-year row between Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) and National Sports Council (NSC) ended today when both the parties agreed to hold NOC elections within next six months. The decision was reached at the Ministry of Education and Sports at the presence of Minister Bimalendra Nidhi, and two representatives — Michel Filliau of International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Haider Farman of Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) who were here to resolve the row. “Free of controversies, Nepali sports will now take a new direction,” said Nidhi while announcing the decision. “There is no room for dissatisfaction from both the sides,” said Nidhi, who also announced that the government decision to revoke NOC had been taken back. According to the road map prepared on Thursday, a committee — of which Rukma Shumsher Rana will be president and Kishor Bahadur Singh, vice president — will hold the elections for the 18 sports associations affiliated with NOC and the elections of NOC as well. “All three officials (Rana, Singh and Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan) had reached an agreement to follow the road map during the Athens Olympic Games, but they could not do so, and we had to come here again,” said IOC representative Michel Filliau.

“Our main job was to resolve the crisis and we succeeded in doing so,” said Haider Farman of OCA.

Speaking to The Himalayan Times, NOC president Rana said that is to the credit of Minister Nidhi and two representatives of IOC and OCA that this controversy was resolved amicably.

He further said that the frozen accounts of NOC have been activated, and the NOC committee, which was elected on November 12, 2003, has been restored.

“We have to unite all the officials who stayed away because of the row in various sports associations,” said Rana adding, “We will now restore those associations which were dissolved by National Sports Council.”