Kathmandu, March 17:

The three-year-long dispute between National Sports Council and Nepal Olympic Committee came to an end today when the latter agreed to re-registered the committee under the NSC on Friday.

The row was solved after the warring groups agreed to follow the directives of International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). Both the sides came to agreement in the presence of OCA representative Haider Farman and Minister for Education and Sports Radha Krishna Mainali.

According to the agreement, the government will re-open the NOC account — which was freezed after the government sacked the elected NOC committee three years ago. The NOC will serve as an ad hoc committee whose primary responsibility would be to hold election in the time frame given by the IOC.

A five-member NOC-constitution drafting committee was also formed on Friday. The committee includes two representatives each from NSC (Naresh Bahadur Singh and Bijay Shrestha) and NOC (Upendra Keshari Neupane and Ravi Rajkarnikar) along with a representative from the Ministry of Education and Sports.

The committee should present the final draft to IOC for approval. “We will have to prepare the constitution under guidelines of the IOC,” NOC general secretary Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan said.

After the approval of the constitution, the election of other national associations should be held within two months. Those association who have already hold their elections and got the recognitions from international body need not hold the elections. The general assembly will hold the NOC elections.

OCA representative Farman expressed hopes that the agreement would give long-lasting solution to the dispute. “We are happy to find one of our Asian family back,” Farman said.

The dispute between the NSC and NOC erupted after the government revoked Rana-led NOC three years ago freezing their bank accounts. NSC member secretary Singh, in his own chairmanship, formed a parallel NOC registering at the NSC. But IOC did not recognise the committee.