Hurt Mattoo quits as Hockey India chief

By Tushar Bhaduri in New Delhi

Steps down from IOA &OC posts too. Kalmadi to decide on resignation

THERE is only so much an old man can take. After being pilloried during the Hockey India’s payment dispute with its players, president AK Mattoo finally decided he had had enough and stepped down on Sunday.

The veteran sports administrator has not only resigned as head of the national hockey federation, but also from the posts of treasurer of the Indian Olympic Association ( IOA) and the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games ( CWG).

There is no doubt that the events of the past few weeks have taken its toll on Mattoo.

Hockey India, already struggling to put its house in order for its elections scheduled for February 7, found itself in the news for all the wrong reasons when the players refused to train for the upcoming World Cup till their dues were cleared.

“’ I am very upset with whatever happened over the past few weeks and I have resigned as the president of Hockey India and other federations that I was part of,” Mattoo said.

“ I have submitted my resignation to Suresh Kalmadi ( president of Indian Olympic Association) and I now want to take retirement from sports administration.

I have served for 40 years and it has been long and fruitful innings.

‘” I don’t want to name anyone but I was not happy with the way Hockey India was being blamed for no reason and I decided to act accordingly,” he added.

Mattoo said categorically that he won’t reconsider his decision even if his resignation is not accepted.

“ I have made up my mind and don’t want to get into all this again.” The crisis engulfing the national game was finally resolved when team sponsors Sahara India released an additional Rs one crore to be distributed among the players.

Kalmadi and former India captain Dhanraj Pillay then met the striking players and persuaded them to resume training, assuring them that their demands would be met by Hockey India’s elected executive.

“ Well, that is one of the reasons.

Certainly it did play a role in my decision,” Mattoo said when asked whether the manner in which the hockey crisis was portrayed had a bearing on his move.

Mattoo’s decision came as a surprise as he was expected to hand over charge after the Hockey India elections. “ The election process is on the right path and there are very capable administrators in the Organising Committee. Everything is on track and now I want to lead the life of a common citizen,” he said.

Hockey India treasurer Narinder Batra was taken aback by the news.

“ We were regularly interacting about the election process and I didn’t get any hint that he was about to step down,” he said.

Lalit Bhanot, secretary general of the CWG Organising Committee and IOA joint- secretary, said he was surprised by the decision.

“ He ( Mattoo) must have submitted his resignation to Kalmadi. We haven’t received it yet. We will only know whether it has been accepted when Kalmadi returns from Pune.

“ We were under the impression that he will see the election process through. I can’t get through to him as he has switched off his phone,” Bhanot told M AIL T ODAY . “ But we will obviously request him to continue. We don’t have any differences with him.” Though Mattoo had indicated that the players’ attitude during the standoff had hurt him, the players said they did not have anything personal against him.

“ He must be facing some personal pressures as we did not have any personal issues with him,” Prabhjot Singh, who represented the players in their talks with Hockey India, said.

“ He came to talk to us as a Hockey India official and we only demanded our rights. He has resigned from his other posts as well, which shows that there are some other issues at play here,” he said.

Rajpal Singh said: “ We never blamed Mattoo for the crisis.

We didn’t have any personal grudge against him.” “ He is known for his upright nature and we never had any problem with him at a personal level,” he told MAIL TODAY . Sandeep Singh confirmed he had heard about Mattoo’s resignation, but declined to comment on his experiences while dealing with the Hockey India chief, who had the unenviable task of guiding the game during a turbulent time.