Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand likely to contest for BAI's general secretary post

Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand likely to contest for BAI's general secretary post

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A file image of Pullela Gopichand.

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India's badminton chief coach Pullela Gopichand is likely to contest for the post of Secretary-General when the Badminton Association of India (BAI) holds its elections on March 25, as per a report in PTI. The veteran coach is likely to give his nomination for the post on Thursday.

“Gopichand is contesting for the general secretary’s post and is likely to file for nomination tomorrow," a BAI source, privy to the development, told PTI. But as per the BAI Constitution, only the outgoing office bearers or Executive Committee members are eligible for contesting the elections, while Gopichand, on the other hand, does not fulfill the criteria. 

“The Hon. Gen Secretary shall be elected by the Council amongst its member and provided that only the outgoing office bearers or the members of the outgoing Executive Committee shall be eligible to contest the election for the post of Hon Gen Secretary," the constitution reads.

The nominations are to be filed from March 9 to 11, and the last date to withdraw nomination is March 17-19. Gopichand is one of the most successful coaches in the country and took Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu to their Olympic medal wins in 2012 and 2016. But his application for the post may come as a conflict of interest. 

Apart from being the chief coach, he is also the secretary of the Telangana Badminton Associaction, is in the selection panel, and also runs a private academy. On the other hand, Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to be re-elected as the president, while Ajay Singhania, the current BAI general secretary, is unlikely to contest the elections for a second term.

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