Mattoo resigns; Affiliation List sent to stake holders

The extraordinary unity shown by the current hockey players and the equally matching media attention, is now sending tremors in the feeble terrain of men who stray into sports administration.

Facing nation’s anger the way he evoked patriotism class on demanding players, and also upset at the way Suresh Kalmadi grabbed the news at the cost of the association he was asked to head, AK Matoo resigned as the president of Hockey India.

Soon after Sahara made an annoncement of Rs. 1 Cr for the exclusive payment to players, and other announcements of similar nature from other States and Corporates, Suresh Kalmadi pitched in the scene and brokered a peace with players — and got nation wide acclaim and photo ops.

Nobody indeed asked Kalmadi, why he did not talk to or visit players who were ironically in a camp at his hometown, Pune.

Hockey India officials who dared players and openly questioned their patriotism would not have gone to the extent of extreme without the consultation of IOA President Kalmadi, simply because of the fact that the whole Hockey India is full of nominated people. And, everybody knows it is the IOA which nominated them. In all practical purpose, Hockey India is not different from IOA ever since KPS Gill’s IHF has been dissolved.

Insiders claim Mattoo expressed his unhappiness to IOA president on being slighted and the whole Hockey India team is unhappy with Kalmadi, who cleverly managed to hog the limelight, even more than Dhanraj Pillay who seemed to have brought in Sahara into the picture.

Meanwhile, on Friday Hockey India sent a list 31 affiliated units indicating therein president and secretaries of the State Units.

It is now apparent at least half a dozen states have the recommending authority State Olympic Association President himself as the chief of the State Hockey units. This includes Delhi, Gujarat, Chhatisgarh etc.

According to sources, these two office bearers viz president and secretaries can now organize their body’s meeting and accord voting rights to a male and female official for the Hockey India election scheduled to take place on February 7.

This election is unlikely to take place as host of State units have approached courts like Vidarbha and Mumbai Hockey Associations. Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh are on the pipe line.

Except two state units, nowhere a women is president or secretary, which is slap on the face of FIH which genuinely wanted gender equality.

AK Mattoo actually tendered resignation on Friday itself. It is also believed he has resigned from all sports posts he had held so far including the Indian Olympic Association and Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee.

It is indeed ironical a neutral and upright man like Mattoo had to move out of the scene while his advisors and manipulators par excellence — NK Batra, Rajeev Mehta, Jagbir Singh — are sitting pretty at their seats.

why AK Mattoo should be a victim when he truthfully followed the advise of these crooks.

It would be nice and appropriate these small figures — wielding enormous clout without any accountability whatsoever — are also thrown out.

The days are not far off.

Very significantly, the two selectors Zafar Iqbal and Ajit Pal, who alledgedly participated in a so-called Selection Committee Meeting to select a second string team for the World Cup — to teach a lesson for the demanding senior players — should also hang their heads in shame and go away from the post they have been shamelessly holding since almost two decades in which spell the hockey has plummeted from one depth to other.