His resignation from his Commonwealth Games role was accepted this morning by Suresh Kalmadi, the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), who has appointed as his replacement All India Tennis Association secretary-general Anil Khanna, who is a qualified chartered accountant.

Earlier today, Hockey India senior vice president Vidya Stokes said the Executive Board has accepted the Mattoo's resignation and he will take temporary charge until the organisation's elections on February 7.

Mattoo's resignation was accepted the day Kalmadi gave one million rupees (£12,300)  to India's hockey players who had walked out of a pre-World Cup training camp last week demanding settlement of all their outstanding payments, including match fees, incentive bonuses and sponsorship money for last year.

After failing to resolve the pay dispute with the players, Mattoo felt his authority was compromised when sponsors Sahara released some of its own funds to pay the players with Kalmadi stepping in to carry out the negotiations to ensure the players returned to training to prepare for the World Cup, which opens in New Delhi on February 28.

Mattoo said: "I have submitted my resignation to Kalmadi and I now want to take retirement from sports administration.

"I have served for 40 years and it has been long and fruitful innings."

But he admitted that the hockey strike had played a part in his decision to step down.

He said: "Certainly it did play a role in my decision."

But Mattoo denied that Kalmadi's intervention in the dispute had been the final factor.

Mattoo said: "He is the leader and the IOA chief.

"I have nothing against him, as being the IOA chief he has all the rights to intervene into such matter."

In a statement, Kalmadi said he was accepting Mattoo's resignation "with great reluctance" after failing to convince him to reconsider his decision.

He said: "It is with great reluctance and after consulting my senior colleagues that I have decided to accept my colleague Ashok Kumar Mattoo's resignation as treasurer of the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games.

"I wish I could have persuaded him to change his mind.

"We tried hard to convince Mattoo to stay on, but he had made up his mind.

"We respect his sentiment and accept his wish to retire from sports administration.

"We will miss his valuable inputs as we head for the home stretch of our preparations to host the Commonwealth Games.

"We wish to place on record our appreciation of his meticulous work over a number of years."

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