Anil Khanna, treasurer of the Organising Committee, Commonwealth Games, quit citing personal reasons here on Wednesday.
Though there was a report in the media about a clash of interest with his position and his son's company laying the synthetic surface at the DLTA Complex for the Commonwealth Games, Anil Khanna, the Secretary-General of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), categorically denied that his resignation had anything to do with the simmering controversy.
“I thought that it was the right time to step down from the OC. There was too much additional pressure. My family was not happy about spending so much extra time,'' said Khanna, who had been entrusted the responsibility of the treasurer's post in January this year.
Nothing to hide
“I have nothing to hide,'' said Khanna, as he went on to explain how the contract for laying the synthetic surface for the tennis courts was directly handled by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the AITA had little role to play.
“The DDA chose Rebound Ace, ahead of Deco Turf and Plexipave, among the three companies approved by the ITF, after an open tender process. The whole deal was for Rs.1.19 crore, and they reportedly saved as much as Rs. 2 lakh on each court because of the competitive rate offered by Rebound Ace. They directly dealt with the company in Australia for laying the 14 courts at the DLTA and the 12 training courts at the Siri Fort Sports Complex,'' said Khanna, even as he stressed the fact that the whole process had finished by the time he took over as treasurer of the OC.
The AITA secretary-general clarified that his son's company, like many other Indian agents of the Australian Rebound Ace Sports, was only providing the labour on request, and was not getting any money otherwise. He said that experienced workers had come from Chennai, Indore and Mumbai to execute the job, along with those present in Delhi.
Dismissing the allegations that the surface was not liked by the tennis fraternity on the ground that the Australian Open had changed to another surface some time back, Khanna pointed out that the Youth Olympics, scheduled to open in a few days in Singapore, would have the same surface, and that the Doha Asian Games in 2006 had the same surface on which India won two gold and a silver medal.
“I am relieved to be out of the OC. I think I have set a good example,'' said Khanna.
