New Delhi, July 31: In the first instance of administrative collision in the Indian Olympic Association’s ad-hoc committee to run hockey in the country, Aslam Sher Khan was on Thursday replaced by Ajit Pal Singh as the chairman of the national selection committee.
While IOA chairman Suresh Kalmadi insisted that the decision was part of a “rotation policy” for the chairman’s post, and every other member of the committee toed the line, it was clear that the decision was more a result of an ego tussle than anything else.
“We have decided to rotate the selection committee Chairman’s post. From now, Ajit Pal Singh will head the selection committee in place of Aslam Sher Khan,” Kalmadi said after the IOA ad-hoc committee’s first meeting with Olympians and players to chalk out a road-map for the development of the game.
When asked if, continuing with the rotation policy, the other members will also get to chair the selection panel in the near future (it’s been three months since Aslam was appointed), Kalmadi was evasive. “Let’s not go into all that at the moment,” he said.
Off the record, most agreed that several of the selection and ad-hoc committee members were unhappy with Aslam Sher Khan’s appointment ahead of Ajit Pal in the first place, as the latter is the senior-most member of the panel. Also, sources said the fact that Aslam was not a member of any state association went against him.
“Aslam is from Bhopal but he is not a member of the Bhopal hockey association.
“The internal politics of state hockey associations was an important reason for his removal, only three months after appointment,” said a senior member who was part of the discussions.
Though Aslam remains a member of the selection panel, he made his displeasure apparent by giving Thursday’s meeting a miss. “I am in Bhopal,” he said, adding that the move could be because some didn’t like his way of working.
On his part, Ajit Pal said he would try to do his best as the selection committee chairman. “I assure you that from my side there will be full transparency in the selection procedure. If it doesn’t happen, I will be accountable,” he said.
Other decisions:
• Select a pool of 20 coaches, from which six would be shortlisted to look after the national team till 2010
• Name a pool of 48 probables, a feeder for the national team. Another such group for juniors
• Send four senior coaches to Beijing for observation. The four coaches are women’s team chief coach MK Kaushik, present men’s junior coach AK Bansal and former assistant coaches Harendra Singh and AB Subbiah
• Develop local centres of excellence in traditional hockey strongholds, like Sansarpur, Bhopal, Sundergarh and Coorg
By Uthra Ganesan