New Delhi:
Hockey India on Wednesday replaced the ad-hoc selection committee with a new five-member full-fledged unified panel, comprising representatives from both men and women's fraternity of the game.
The newly-appointed five-member committee consists of three men and two women, including 1966 Asian Games gold medalist Col Balbir Singh, Olympian Muneer Sait, 1975 World Cup gold medalist B P Govinda, Arjuna Awardee Madhu Yadav and 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Sita Mehta.
Hockey India secretary general Mohammad Aslam said the appointment of a full-fledged selection committee became mandatory after the ad-hoc set up, running the game in the country, was dissolved in June this year.
"After the formation of Hockey India, the ad-hoc body was dissolved. So,naturally the ad-hoc selection committee was also dissolved and the appointment of a new selection committee was pending on us," Aslam said.
"All the five selectors are Olympians and have been appointed keeping in mind their vast experience of the game," he said.
The new selection committee has been appointed for a period of one year.
Interestingly, there will be no chairman of selectors in the new committee as in the case with the ad-hoc selection panel, which was being headed by former India captain Ajit Pal Singh.
Apart from the five members, the selection panel will continue to have Ajit Pal and former India international Zafar Iqbal as government nominated selectors.
Keeping the women's interest in mind, former India skipper Rupa Saini has also been appointed as a government nominated selector.
"Apart from these five selectors, there are two government observers in Ajit Pal Singh and Zafar Iqbal for the men's team and Rupa Saini for the women's team," Aslam said.
"There won't be any head of the selection committee and everybody will have equal say in matters of selection," he added.
The other members of the Ajit Pal-led ad-hoc selection committee, which was superseded by a new panel today, were Ashok Kumar, son of hockey legend Dhyanchand and former India captain Dhanraj Pillay.
Asked whether Hockey India has any plans to pay the selectors in future to fix more accountability in their job, a trend which has already been introduced by the Indian Cricket Board, Aslam said, "Presently, we don't have any sponsor for the national team but we are trying hard to get one.
"Once we get sponsors, we will definitely think about the matter."
The newly-appointed five-member committee consists of three men and two women, including 1966 Asian Games gold medalist Col Balbir Singh, Olympian Muneer Sait, 1975 World Cup gold medalist B P Govinda, Arjuna Awardee Madhu Yadav and 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Sita Mehta.
Hockey India secretary general Mohammad Aslam said the appointment of a full-fledged selection committee became mandatory after the ad-hoc set up, running the game in the country, was dissolved in June this year.
"After the formation of Hockey India, the ad-hoc body was dissolved. So,naturally the ad-hoc selection committee was also dissolved and the appointment of a new selection committee was pending on us," Aslam said.
"All the five selectors are Olympians and have been appointed keeping in mind their vast experience of the game," he said.
The new selection committee has been appointed for a period of one year.
Interestingly, there will be no chairman of selectors in the new committee as in the case with the ad-hoc selection panel, which was being headed by former India captain Ajit Pal Singh.
Apart from the five members, the selection panel will continue to have Ajit Pal and former India international Zafar Iqbal as government nominated selectors.
Keeping the women's interest in mind, former India skipper Rupa Saini has also been appointed as a government nominated selector.
"Apart from these five selectors, there are two government observers in Ajit Pal Singh and Zafar Iqbal for the men's team and Rupa Saini for the women's team," Aslam said.
"There won't be any head of the selection committee and everybody will have equal say in matters of selection," he added.
The other members of the Ajit Pal-led ad-hoc selection committee, which was superseded by a new panel today, were Ashok Kumar, son of hockey legend Dhyanchand and former India captain Dhanraj Pillay.
Asked whether Hockey India has any plans to pay the selectors in future to fix more accountability in their job, a trend which has already been introduced by the Indian Cricket Board, Aslam said, "Presently, we don't have any sponsor for the national team but we are trying hard to get one.
"Once we get sponsors, we will definitely think about the matter."
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