Anju resigns as observer

Anju Bobby George has resigned as the National Observer for athletics as per the demands of the sports ministry but has stressed that the 'conflict of interest' cited by the ministry was not valid in her case.

The sports ministry had asked Anju to resign, a move that had hurt the former long jump ace, who sensed a lack of respect in the manner in which the matter was handled.

Making matters worse, the ministry had pointed to a conflict of interest in Anju's case when none existed. When the issue was first raised to her through a telephonic conversation, Anju had sought clarification from the ministry through a letter.

"It is unfortunate that I have not received any reply to the above letter yet. However, I have decided to resign from the post of National Observer in view of continuous directives from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, even though the cited reason -- conflict of interest -- is not valid in my case as I am not associated with any academy currently," said Anju in her letter to the ministry.

Anju also thanked the ministry for giving her a chance to work for the betterment of her sport. "I believe I have done my best to fulfil the entrusted duties to uphold the national interest," she wrote.

Abhinav Bindra, P T Usha and Sushil Kumar had all resigned as observers while Karnam Malleswari, who was also asked to quit recently, said she was doing her duty by running a sports academy.