Bangalore: The unthinkable has happened. In what is a clear indicator to the sharp divide among the Karnataka State Hockey Association (KSHA) top brass, its president RK Shetty attended the ‘annual general meeting’ called by KPS Gill on Wednesday.

Visibly dismayed members of the KSHA were quick to term the visit as private and as the first signs of the president asserting himself at the cost of the association even as KSHA secretary K Krishnamurthy stated that Shetty’s New Delhi visit did not have official sanction.

“Shetty has attended an illegal meeting. We would consider it as only a gathering and not a meeting because IHF no longer exists. Whatever the case may be, Shetty has incurred the displeasure of all members of the association,” Krishnamurthy told TOI.

“No member will appreciate what Shetty has done. On the one hand, we are working towards the formation of a new hockey body. On the other, you have the president attending the meeting called by a man who is no longer in power. It sends all the wrong signals. Obviously, Shetty has disappointed every KSHA member by this act. He seems more loyal to Gill than to the KSHA.”

Interestingly, Shetty has chosen to throw caution to the winds by attending the meeting. He is one of the vicepresidents of the Karnataka Olympic Association, whose parent body — the Indian Olympic Association — suspended IHF early this year. How Shetty will field uncomfortable questions from the KOA remains to be seen.

The KSHA also plans to convene a meeting of its executive council soon. Whether the meeting will see a bit of plainspeaking or will it be an attempt at damage control too is a matter of conjecture now. In any case, Wednesday’s incident will surely throw up some interesting pointers to the association elections scheduled for the end of this year.