Heads start rolling, CGOC treasurer Anil Khanna quits

Anil Khanna, the treasurer of the Games Organizing Committee, gave resignation from his post after a media expose of his son’s company being awarded contracts for the Delhi Games tennis turfs.

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Anil Khanna, the treasurer of the Games Organizing Committee, gave resignation from his post on Thursday after a media expose of his son’s company being awarded contracts for the Delhi Games tennis turfs. In a clear case of conflict of interest, it was learnt that the synthetic tennis turfs being laid for the Games were done by a company whose CEO is Aditya Khanna, the son of the treasurer of the Games Organizing Committee, Anil Khanna. Anil Khanna is one of the bigwigs of Indian tennis as he is also the All India Tennis Association executive secretary general. The company in question, Rebound Ace, is an Australian firm specialising in synthetic play courts. Aditya Khanna heads the Indian arm of Rebound.But the Rebound rubberized surface has been in controversy from a long time due to players’ complaints of increased chances of injury on the turf. Tennis greats like Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt have openly criticized the Rebound turf and it was discontinued from Australian Open since 2007.In his defence, Anil Khanna said, “All India Tennis Association (AITA) was never part of the contract process. OC had asked ITF for recommendations and they sent three names including Rebound Ace. After that, DDA floated the tender and picked Rebound Ace, whose quotation, I believe, was much less than the other two. The deal is with Rebound Ace, based in Australia. So my son`s company is not going to get a single rupee."