Trouble brewing in ad-hoc committee?

When selection committee chairman Aslam Sher Khan announced that the life ban on three players for assaulting...

When selection committee chairman Aslam Sher Khan announced that the life ban on three players for assaulting an umpire during the Premier Hockey League last year would be removed, he would not have imagined the after-effects.

On Tuesday, IOA president and ad-hoc committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi made it clear that the ban was still in place. “The selection committee will decide and then send the proposal to the ad-hoc committee for ratification,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, things aren’t all hunky-dory within the new selection committee itself with Ajitpal Singh disagreeing with Aslam on the removal of ban, saying such decisions were not the job of the selection committee.

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“It is not a clash, but just a difference of opinion. For one, suspension or removal of ban is an administrative matter, not of selection. Secondly, there is a process for such decisions… the players have to approach the administrative body, tender an apology and then the final decision rests with the administration. Aslam saab may have said this because he feels for the players but I simply think it is not our job,” he said. “I am all for the players but not indiscipline in the sport.”

Meanwhile, Aslam himself reiterated that it was just a technical detail and things would be sorted out soon.