Hockey, basketball issues to figure in meeting

Chennai: The annual general meeting of Tamil Nadu Olympic Association on Saturday at the Conference Hall of Nehru Stadium will discuss two key issues though they don’t figure on the agenda of the association.

The claims and counterclaims of two hockey associations in the state, one of which is by former Indian Hockey Federation secretary K Jothikumaran, who had to give up his national post after a sting operation and the internal disputes in the Tamil Nadu Basketball Association have forced the TNOA to appoint a three-member committee to study the cases.

The committee consisting of CR Visswanathan, JS Chopra and Walter Devaram will discuss the issues and also go through the lists of various district association administrative details before checking the claims of the rival groups in both the associations.

CR Visswanathan, who was away in Kolkata on Friday to meet AIFF president Das Munshi, said he had got the hockey office-bearers’ list submitted by some 20 district associations which formed a TNHA in Madurai last month with Solai Raja as president. Jothikumaran is also believed to have sumbitted his list of office-bearers and all the records that he had to prove his credentials to remain as secretary of TNHA to the committee. “We’ll discuss the issues only on Saturday,” said Visswanathan.