1st president: Late Lyonpo Dawa Tshering 1983 to 1996

2nd president: Lyonpo Dago Tshering 1996 to 1998

3rd president: Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup 1998 to 2003

4th president: Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho 2003 to 2006

There was a lot of optimism when the Bhutan Olympic Committee (BOC) was established in 1983.

It had taken on the mantle to promote and modernise sports in the then largely rural Bhutan, to develop Bhutanese athletes over the years, so that they could gather enough muscle, experience and exposure, to compete some day in regional and international games. Its job was also to establish sports infrastructure in the country, which was non-existent then.

BOC was to fulfill all that with funds from the government, but largely from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA). It was an autonomous body with its own chapters and the government left it alone.

And compete Bhutanese athletes did – but only in archery, taekwondo and boxing in the South Asian games and Asian games starting 1998. They have brought home 15 gold, 25 silver and 32 bronze medals from the games to date. Bhutan has also participated in the Olympic summer games – in the archery field – through “wild card” invitation, but not through the qualification rounds, because the team never qualified. Bhutan is yet to win an Olympic medal, or compete in the winter Olympic games, or contest in other events of the games besides archery.

Money was not a major problem. BOC has received almost Nu 300m from the government since 1983 and about Nu 62.5m from IOC only for the promotion of sports and not for building infrastructure. Besides, sports federations got money independently from international sports organizations. For instance, Bhutan football federation has received Nu 100m alone from FIFA to develop the sport in the country, aside from another Nu 24m from the Asian Football Committee, including technical help.

What was now needed was a BOC president. An elected person, who, according to BOC charter, was to be instrumental in advancing sports in Bhutan – someone with passion and vision. Besides inspiring and strategising, the president had to ensure that the sports federations in the country were functioning effectively.

Till 2006, however, BOC presidents were all government ministers. They were never elected to the post, but appointed by the government. “From 1998, there was an unwritten rule that the education minister would automatically be the president, and so he was,” said a sports coach. In 2006, former works and human settlement minister, Kinzang Dorji, was appointed BOC president.

The executive committee members of BOC also comprised mostly government ministers and secretaries and rarely bona fide athletes. And, although they were required by the BOC charter to meet twice a year to plan and take important sporting decisions, they rarely ever did. Since 2007, committee members and the president failed to meet even once.

“It was a joke,” said a sports coach. Source: Kuenselonline