New Delhi: Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) appears headed towards a fresh controversy with some selectors and a top functionary threatening to quit the rift-ridden sports body if current coach Rajinder Singh (junior) was not shown the door immediately.

The call for Rajinder’s head comes in the wake of the team’s dismal sixth-place finish in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

“A few selectors and an important IHF functionary have decided to put in their papers to protest against president K.P.S. Gill’s continued patronage of coach Rajinder Singh,” sources in the federation said. “They have been consistently demanding that Rajinder be sacked for the team’s poor performances. But Gill has been in favour of retaining Rajinder and that’s the problem,” they said.

[However, three of the five selectors ? Gurbux Singh, Surinder Singh Sodhi and Ajit Pal Singh ? denied contemplating any such move. Aslam Sher Khan and B.P. Govinda could not be reached for comment, adds Our Special Correspondent.]

Ever since Rajinder took over from German Gerhard Rach in April last year, the Indian team has failed to deliver the goods.

In the first tournament under Rajinder, India ended fifth among seven teams at the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia in May last year, followed by another lacklustre performance in eight-nation RaboBank Trophy.

Last December, India finished with the wooden spoon at the six-nation Champions Trophy in Chennai and lost the recent hockey series to Pakistan 1-3.