Appeal to CM to refrain SAG Coaches from contesting Chess Association Elections
Sports Authority of Goa's (SAG) chess coach Sanjay Kavlekar's nomination for the post of Secretary in the Goa Chess Association elections scheduled for April 28 has raised many an eyebrow. So much so that a member of Tiswadi Chess Association, Sandeep Heble, has alerted the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is the President of SAG's governing council, and asked that he (Kavlekar) be refrained from holding such post. "Being a chess coach, Kavlekar must not be allowed to hold the elective post of secretary in the Goa Chess Association due to the potential conflict of interest which is likely to be caused in case he is elected to hold such a post", Heble has written in the letter. Heble has also mentioned one more case, wherein another SAG coach Avinash Malvankar has also been elected as a member in the Bardez Taluka Association. Drawing attention of the Chief Minister to the Sports Ministry's diktat, the Office Memorandum dated 18 December 2009, wherein the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports after careful consideration has held that its employees or employees under its administrative control are debarred from holding elective posts in sports Federations/ Associations owing to likely conflict of interests which may be caused, Heble said similar principles should be adopted in the present case due to similarities in the issue. Heble also made a mention of an observation made by Bombay High Court to a plaint filed by badminton player Prajakta Sawant, that it is ethically wrong of Puella Gopichand to run his own private academy while at the same time heading the selection panel as such dual posts an affect 'fairness of selection'. "Issues of fairness and partiality will keep cropping up if SAG coaches are allowed to head important posts in sports associations/ federations. Hence, permissions granted to Sanjay Kavlekar and Avinash Malvankar, if any, may be withdrawn and they and/or other coaches who are part of sports associations be debarred from holding such elective posts in sports bodies," Heble said. (Source: Gomantak Times 18 April)
