Kalmadi led a delegation to Parliament House angry at plans announced earlier this week by Sports Minister M.S Gill that the length of time senior sports officials will be able to serve in their posts will be limited.

The decision has alerted the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who have written to the IOA warning that they could face action over the Government intervention, including the threat of being banned from international competition.

Kalmadi said: "The Prime Minister told us that he would look into the matter and get back to us.

"If you fiddle with the autonomy you get into trouble.
 
"If the IOC imposes sanctions, it can bring to a standstill all sports activity in the country."

Gill wants Presidents of sports federations, including the IOA, limited to 12 years while a secretary or a treasurer can serve two terms of four years each but will have to take a four-year break before seeking re-election.

Kalmadi, who has been President of the IOA since 1996, is the most high-profile of the officials who would be affected by the new regulations.

Also, anyone over the age of 70 will not be eligible to continue in their posts.

Kalmadi, who was accompanied to see the Prime Minister by Randhir Singh, the secretary general of the IOA and a member of the IOC, also received support from international officials.

These included Barbados' Austin Sealy, another member of the IOC who was visiting New Delhi as chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation Coordination Commission.

He claimed he did not understand why the Indian Government wanted to interfere in the running of the country's sports federations.



Sealy (pictured with microphone) said: "I have been CGF treasurer since 1986 and before that I have been head of my country's Olympic Committee for 14 years [1982-1996].

"CGF President Mike Fennell has been Jamaican Olympic Association President for more than 30 years.

"We did not have this kind of problem in our part of the world."

Kalmadi criticised Gill for raising the matter with less than 200 days until the opening of the Commonwealth Games on October 3.

He said: "We have assured the Prime Minister that the Commonwealth Games will be a huge success.

"We conveyed that Sports Minister M.S Gill should not have come out with all these ideas now.

"He should have come out after the Games."

Sealy said: "The timing of Sports Ministry order was unfortunate.

"We could have done without these distractions."

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