Ranchi, Feb. 22: Jharkhand’s army of sports people is without a general, something that made it difficult for officials and police to intervene and control last night’s scuffle between members of the home team and Services during evening cultural functions at Khel Gaon.

Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA) had appointed Shekhar Bose, the president of State Volleyball Association, as the chef de mission, or functional head and spokesperson for the state’s contingent of 1,699, the largest in the 34th National Games.

But, Bose chose not to accept, pointing out that his responsibilities with volleyball would suffer if he took up additional charge. The National Games Organising Committee (NGOC), too, did not follow up with another appointment.

Last night, things turned ugly when jubilant men’s hockey team members, celebrating their semi-final victory by a last-minute goal, ended up provoking the Services team. A bitter argument followed, culminating in a fight, said sources.

The magistrate on duty had to call police, while Games officials called in the chef de mission of the Services team. “Had we not intervened in time, the situation would have got violent,” said B.B. Sharma, a police inspector.

For a contingent as large as Jharkhand’s — including 759 sportspersons, 786 technical officials and 154 officials — the appointment of a chef de mission would definitely have helped even though the president of Jharkhand Olympic Association and NGOC, R.K. Anand, felt otherwise.

A chef de mission is the spokesperson for the team. He is to provide overall leadership to the team and ensure a conducive atmosphere so that athletes and coaches worked together to ensure best results in the sporting arena.

Most important, in times of crisis, like yesterday’s brawl at the Games village, it is the chef de mission who speaks to law enforcement agencies on behalf of players to try and resolve disputes amicably.

But Anand said the absence of a chef de mission wasn’t a problem. “Chote-mote jhagre chalte rehte hain (Minor brawls keep happening in such events and these make no difference),” he maintained.

NGOC spokesperson N.M. Kulkarni disagreed, insisting that a chef de mission would have made things easier. “We had no one to speak to when the players turned unruly,” he maintained.

Surprisingly, most sports associations were unaware that Bose wasn’t functioning as chef de mission.

Khurshid Khan of State Handball Association was worried that there was no one to collect participation certificates for players in the absence of a chef de mission.

State Tennis Association president Ajay Nath Shahdeo said he, too, wasn’t aware that Jharkhand did not have a chef de mission.

As for Bose, he didn’t elaborate. “The volleyball matches were more important for me. The event would not have been smoothly conducted had I not got involved in it,” he told The Telegraph.