I did not want to be part of a sham: Randhir

M.S.Unnikrishnan

New Delhi, January 20
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary general Raja Randhir Singh quit the Ad Hoc Committee to administer hockey in disgust as the working of the committee was not in consonance with the betterment of the national game.

When the IOA divested the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), headed by KPS Gill, in May 2008 of the powers to administer the game in the country at the behest of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), it was intended to put the game back on a pedestal.

The IOA constituted a five-member ad hoc committee, headed by IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, Randhir Singh, treasurer A.K.Mattoo, Aslam Khan and Uttaranchal Olympic Association president Rajiv Mehta, but over the months, the ad hoc committee failed to function as a co-ordinated unit.

“A couple of members were taking decisions without our knowledge, and I did not want to be part of such a sham”, Randhir said here today.

He said the purpose of the IOA taking direct charge of the hockey affairs was to take the national game to its pre-eminent position.

“But someone apparently was taking decisions on behalf of the ad hoc committee arbitrarily”, Randhir said, adding that he, Kalmadi and Mattoo were very keen that hockey was put in a league of its own.

Though selection committee chairman Ajit Pal Singh was surprised at the quitting of Randhir Singh from the ad hoc committee, he said the selection committee enjoyed full freedom. He said no final decision had been taken on the appointment, though Jose Brasa of Spain had come to Delhi a couple of days ago, at the invitation of the Union Sports Ministry. The IOA and the Ministry bosses were “satisfied with his presentation”.

A source said Brasa was invited at “government expenses”, and apparently stands a fair chance of getting the top job, though Ajit Pal Singh insisted that no name had been finalised yet.