BHUBANESWAR: With the political scenario undergoing a big change in the state after the recent elections, a change of guard is expected in sports organisations, which were headed by politicians of the then ruling BJD.
First signs of the changes came on Tuesday when president of the Football Association of Odisha (FAO) Debasish Samantray tendered his resignation from the post. Former minister and senior BJP leader Samir Dey is likely to replace Samantray as the state football body president. The Rising Student Club has forwarded the name of the former minister for the post, sources said.
Samantray told this paper that he did not think it was right to continue in the post after the change of government. His resignation has come ahead of the election of the FAO office-bearers, scheduled on July 21.
Samantray had won the last two terms consecutively, representing the Radharaman Club of Cuttack. However, the club has not sent his name this time.
Sources also confirmed that president of the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) Pranab Prakash Das is on his way out. Sanjay Behera, son of Ashirbad Behera is the secretary of OCA.
Sources said, the internal politics has more to do with the likely change in the cricket body. The equations between Das and Sanjay had soured during the general elections. Sanjay was keen to fight the Cuttack-Barabati seat on a BJD ticket. However, the BJD fielded Prakash Behera from the seat who secured third position.
Both Das and Samantray were in charge of ticket distribution, and denial of ticket to Sanjay has come into play, they stated.