KSSC had disaffiliated KTTA in its February 2020 AGM, says TTAK

There’s a new twist to the tussle between the two table tennis associations in Kerala which has now entered its fifth year.

The Table Tennis Association of Kerala (TTAK), which is affiliated to the national body TTFI, now claims that the Kerala Table Tennis Association (KTTA), which had been running the sport for nearly 65 years before the TTFI derecognised it in 2018, had been disaffiliated by the Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC) in its AGM held at Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram in February 2020.

When the KSSC’s standing committee had derecognised the KTTA through an order dated September 26, 2019, the latter moved court saying that due procedure had not been followed in the disqualification. It argued that only the KSSC’s general body, and not the standing committee, had the power to derecognise an association. The High Court verdict came in its favour and the KSSC was forced to grant recognition to it again.

In a bid to end the two-association problem, which saw each association conducting its own State championship leaving players confused, TTAK secretary Michael Mathai had filed an RTI application regarding the issue.

He is now convinced that the reply to his RTI application would end the confusion.

“The Sports Council’s reply to my RTI application says that all decisions taken by the standing committee after 21-05-2019 have been ratified by the general body held in Thiruvananthapuram on February 19, 2020. So that includes the disaffiliation of the KTTA by the KSSC’s standing committee in September 2019,” Michael told The Hindu on Friday.

“And with the standing committee’s order disaffiliating the KTTA being ratified by the KSSC’s general body, the disaffiliation process has been completed. The issue is over.”

Michael has also written to the KSSC president Mercy Kuttan regarding this and has asked the Sports Council why it has not brought this to the notice of the High Court.

But the KTTA still believes that it has the KSSC’s recognition.

“Ask him (Michael) to give the proof,” said Vijay Arjundas Lulla, the KTTA secretary. “The Sports Council had sent its observer for all our State and district championships, even for the recent one. If we are a disaffiliated body, that would not have happened.”

With that being the situation, one had tried to speak to the KSSC president. But Mercy did not answer calls or reply to the message from this correspondent.