Is there an end to it at all?

S. Thyagarajan

Leandro Negre embarks this week on another mission impossible. What the FIH boss hopes to do to seal off the factional fight in Indian hockey administration here is hard to visualise.

The deadline set last time is over. Neither Hockey India nor the Indian Hockey Federation showed any urgency for a solution. It was total inertia.

The endorsement by the Sports Minister, Ajay Maken, to the efficacy of the World Series of Hockey (WSH) both at the start and after the conclusion will add weight to IHF’s claim for a major role.

How much is FIH pleased with the success of the WSH cannot be ascertained. The FIH at best will remain non-committal.

The FIH Executive Board is said to have debated the India related issues at its recent meeting in Barcelona. The nitty-gritty of these remains unclear. Whether Leandro comes up with any fresh proposals for the HI and IHF officials can be known only when he meets them.

Why the FIH is going out of its way to end this impasse intrigues many. A retired FIH administrator raises his hands in despair. He informs that opinion within the FIH is divided on the handling of the HI-IHF differences.

Can there be a meeting point? Both HI and IHF feel it is possible. But so far it has been like a mirage. Primarily, there are four agencies — FIH, IHF, HI and IOA — leaving aside the major player, Sports Ministry.

The objective is to bring hockey under one umbrella. But each agency has agenda totally in conflict with the other.

The IHF is unprepared to accept its disaffiliation by IOA in 2008. It won a legal battle too.

The IHF argues that if an alleged aberration of an official captured in a sting operation by a TV network is reason enough to dismiss a federation then what about the IOA whose top officials were jailed in cases related to CWG. Even the IOC has expressed its displeasure over the ramifications of the CWG.

A working arrangement emerging out of Leandro’s visit appears remote. The best solution is status quo.

Since the Sports Ministry is behind all the hockey ventures, be it funding of camps, tours, payment to the coaches and what not, the parties claiming to seek control of the administration can stay put as they are till the Olympic Games.

Any controversy or debate now will divert the attention from the preparation. Mr. Ajay Maken, has come off as one who understands the sentiments and sensibilities of the sportspersons in the Olympic year. So, there need be no knee-jerk reaction.

What is of interest is the attitude of HI towards the 150-odd players who participated in the WSH. True, several were past their prime.

But there were quite a few national level material like Gurjinder Singh, the first hockey player scooping around Rs. 1 crore from a competition.

Taking shelter under the FIH eligibility rules may be one option. But will that escape legal scrutiny?

Surely, HI does not want another legal battle should there be a PIL on this issue.