New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) K. P. S. Gill, president of the superseded Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), Tuesday said the ad hoc committee set-up by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to run the affairs of the sport had done precious little in the last six months it had been in existence.

Gill, who would be presiding over the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of his federation here Wednesday, told IANS that hockey in the country has not moved an inch in six months and that has forced him to call the AGM.

Gill dragged the IOA to Delhi High court, which is scheduled to hear the case on Dec 4 by which time the apex body of Indian sports is required to present its plans to conduct fresh elections to the IHF.

The Executive Committee meeting of Gill’s IHF met Tuesday night.

K.Jothikumaran, who had resigned as secretary-general following a sting operation a television channel to expose his alleged cash-for-selection, is expected to attend the AGM as president of the Tamil Nadu Hockey Association.

Gill said he was hopeful of all the major units of IHF attending the meeting though he did not divulge the exact number.

‘Most of the units are attending Wednesday’s meeting. Those who are still active in hockey have come. There are many issues to be discussed and we have the agenda ready,’ Gill said.
Asked whether it was a show of strength against the IOA, Gill said: ‘we do not believe in any show of strength. We have better things to do. The IOA is a different body and we are a different body. The issue is in the court.’

‘India hockey has not headed anywhere in these six months. Even the national team is without a coach. The so-called ad-hoc committee has not done one bit of constructive work. We thought it is better to do something and see where we can go from here.’

It is unclear as to how many of the 41 affiliated units of the IHF will attend the meeting, but 31 of them had reportedly attended a conclave in Pune on the sidelines of a seminar organised by J. B. Roy, president of the Bengal Hockey Association and also the Deputy Managing Director of Sahara Pariwar, Indian hockey’s long-time sponsors.

Gill was not invited to the conclave. ‘I was not invited to the meeting,’ he said.

The general feeling among the IHF units at the Pune meeting was the need to free the federation from the clutches of the IOA and the administrative revamp of the IHF, giving the new set-up a purposeful look.

The general feeling of the members attending the conclave was that the IOA should hand over the reins to a democratically-elected body at the earliest rather than have an ad hoc committee running the country’s hockey affairs.

Notable absentees at the Pune conclave were the affiliated units of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh (of which Gill is the president), Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.