The Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC), which got a new executive committee on December 28 last year with Jeevan Ram Shrestha being re-elected as the president for a third term, is illegal as per the government.

Shrestha had amended the NOC statute and allowed the president to run for the post for a third term and conducted the election online, as the government had padlocked the NOC building in Satdobato, Lalitpur, following the orders from the Patan High Court and Supreme Court.

Still, the new executive committee was accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). But without the government’s support, Shrestha’s team has been barred from utilising the NOC building and has been operating from outside.

As the courts are yet to give a final hearing on the cases against the NOC, a nine-member ad-hoc committee was formed on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, the president of NOC from 2006 to 2015. Samim Miya Ansari has been named the spokesperson, while the other members have not been disclosed.

As per the National Sports Development Act, the National Sports Council (NSC) has the right to form an ad-hoc committee when sports associations, including NOC, fail to adhere to the law of the state. However, the ad-hoc committee does not state whether it was formed under the NSC or the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, a senior official at the NSC said that the council was not completely part of the ad-hoc committee formation.

“Yes, the NSC views Shrestha’s new committee illegal,” the official said. “But we have not been part of the ad-hoc committee. It seems it was formed through the ministry.”

Minister for Youth and Sports Teju Lal Chaudhary, who is also the chairman of NSC, had declared they’d form an ad-hoc committee at a press conference in Singha Durbar on August 1. He had also stated that the decision was backed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who on July 28 had urged the disappointed member sports associations to take necessary steps.

“The ad-hoc committee was formed after a meeting between chairman, general-secretary and other officials of 23 sports associations affiliated with the NOC,” read a statement by the committee, which was issued under the NOC’s logo, on Tuesday. There are 31 associations under NOC.

The law states that an ad-hoc committee should conduct the elections within three months. “We have started the process towards it,” Ansari shared in an interview with Rato Pati, an online news outlet, on Wednesday.

Ansari also stressed that the ad-hoc committee will ensure that the NOC’s work does not get affected, and the athletes will continue to participate in international events under Nepal’s flag.

He also said that the ad-hoc committee would soon enter the NOC building with the state’s support and begin their activities.

Yet, Shrestha’s NOC stressed that the ad-hoc committee’s formation was baseless and illegal. “The NOC, with Jeevan Ram Shrestha as president and Rajiv Shrestha as general-secretary, recognised by IOC and OCA, is the authentic committee of Nepal,” a statement issued on Wednesday read. “Forming an ad-hoc committee by ineligible individuals cannot be accepted. We also warn not to misuse the logos of NOC, OCA and IOC.”

A country cannot have two national Olympic committees as per both the IOC and Nepal’s laws. If the tussle continues, NOC runs the risk of being banned by the IOC, a step that would disallow Nepali athletes from participating in events like the Asian Games and Olympics under the country’s flag.