IHF disbanded, Gill ousted following sting operation

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Gill, a former Director General of Punjab Police, was ousted from office of IHF President in the light of a show broadcasted on primetime television which alleged that IHF secretary K. Jothikumaran had accepted money as bribe from undercover reporters to select a particular player that was caught in a camera via sting operation.

Jothikumaran denied any wrongdoing and said he would "keep away" till an inquiry committee appointed by the federation completed its findings. He earlier stated that he accepted the money to start preparing for a proposed international tournament and not for any player's selection.

"The IOA has full authority to take disciplinary action against any federation if it indulges in activities that can bring disrepute to the nation and the sport," IOA president Suresh Kalmadi said in a news conference in Delhi.

"On that ground, the IOA executive council passed a resolution to suspend the Indian Hockey Federation and appoint an ad hoc committee to run the affairs till the issues are resolved," he said.

Kalmadi further added, "The decision was unanimous and it was taken in the interest of Indian hockey though it was painful to remove KPS Gill because the IOA is committed to the autonomy of all federations."

He also said that Gill's expertise would be used in the 2010 Games. "Even though we had to take the decision [to suspend IHF] in the greater interest of Indian hockey; but his [Gill's] talents will be utilized in Commonwealth Games," Kalmadi said.

The country's premier sports body, IOA has now appointed a five-member "ad-hoc committee" in the federation's place to run hockey activities in the country. Also a five-member national selection committee has been appointed headed by Aslam Sher Khan, a former MP. Ashok Kumar, Ajitpal Singh, Zafar Iqbal and Dhanraj Pillay will be the other selectors.

In another decision, Australian field hockey wizard Ric Charlesworth was made the adviser to the ad-hoc committee.

Apparently, the IOA was also under pressure to act after the union sports minister, MS Gill, called for hockey chiefs to quit and the sport's world governing body International Hockey Federation (FIH) demanded better management of the country's national sport.

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