Randhir resigns from ad hoc panel

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary general Randhir Singh has resigned from the ad-hoc committee governing the Indian Hockey Federation.

Randhir Singh could not be contacted for his reaction but IOA sources confirmed to HT that he quit on Thursday. Singh was not happy with the manner in which the ad-hoc committee was functioning.

The national selectors too are not happy with the functioning of committee convener Mohd Aslam Khan and it has been learnt that Singh's resignation was a result of this infighting in the ad-hoc establishment.

Besides Randhir Singh and Aslam Khan, the other members of the committee are IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, its treasurer AK Mattoo and Rajiv Mehta, president of the Uttaranchal Olympic Association.

The IOA had suspended the KPS Gill-led Indian Hockey Federation in May 2008 and installed the ad-hoc committee to run the game in the country in an efficient manner.

The latest development proves that things are also not hunky-dory under the new establishment. The fight for control will now intensify in the next few months and it is likely that the committee will be reconstituted in the wake of the step taken by Randhir Singh.