S.Y Qureshi named AAI Administrator

Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Qureshi has been appointed the Administrator for the Archery Association of India (AAI). The Delhi High Court announced the verdict on Friday in response to a petition filed by lawyer Rahul Mehra.

Former athlete Ashwini Nachappa, in her capacity as the president of Clean Sports India, hailed the move. “We welcome the decision in the case filed by Rahul Mehra in his unstinted fight to clean up Indian sports,” Nachappa said in a statement.

Qureshi has been tasked with conducting free and fair elections in the AAI. “It is a sport where we stand a good chance to win Olympics medals and it is important it is governed well,” Nachappa noted.

The AAI had conducted its last elections in November, 2012 in violation of the National



Sports Development Code and was subsequently de-recognised by the Government. The High Court had directed the AAI to hold fresh elections as per the sports code but the federation had not complied fully.

The Court has now set aside the amended constitution of the AAI and ordered fresh elections to be supervised by Qureshi. He has been asked to resolve the affiliation/disaffiliation issues, finalise the electoral college and hold elections within six weeks.

The newly-elected body will carry out the amendments to the constitution to bring it in conformity with the National Sports Code. The elections will then be held as per the amended constitution.

Meanwhile, no financial transactions by the AAI will be permitted without the prior approval of the Administrator.