Chennai: An industrial family from Chennai is set to become a force to be reckoned with in Indian sports. BCCI president N. Srinivasan isn’t only the most powerful sports administrator in the country, he also holds the leash of the International Cricket Council. Now his younger brother Ramachandran is the new president of the Indian Olympic Association.
As the deadline to file nominations for February 9 IOA elections ended on Saturday, Ramachandran’s is the only name in contention for the top post. He now only needs an official seal of approval to take charge as IOA boss. Ramachandran, who served as treasurer in the previous regime, is also the president of the World Squash Federation. His rise to the top of the squash world has been meteoric.
Just like the BCCI, the IOA has also been in the news for all the wrong reasons after being suspended by the International Olympic Committee in December 2012 on charges of not following the international body’s electoral code of conduct. After many rounds of tug-of-war, the IOA fell in line to pave the for India’s return to the IOC fold. The much-awaited return could happen as soon as Ramachandran takes charge.
Ramachandran, younger to Srinivasan by three years, and the BCCI president hasn’t reportedly been seeing eye to eye since 2009. Ramachandran had been with India Cements — a company co-founded by his father T.S. Narayanaswami with another businessman S.N.N. Sankaralinga Iyer, as executive director but walked out in August 2009, selling his stake to his brother.
