Negre behind Gill-Kalmadi patch up
Mihir Vasavda
Mumbai: The ‘Great Indian Hockey Patch Up’ has finally happened. On Sunday, the president of the disaffiliated Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) KPS Gill joined hands with newly formed Hockey India (HI). Gill’s inclusion will fecilitate the smooth merger of the men’s and women’s state units. It’ll also ensure that elections are held within six months.

After 15 months in oblivion, Gill announced his return to hockey administration on Sunday after a meeting in New Delhi where HI secretary general Mohammad Aslam Khan was also present. A six-member sub-committee has been formed, which will work out the modalities of the merger of the men’s and women’s units at the state level within 45 days.

“We have 28 states and five union territories under our aegis and a representative from the majority of these states and Union territories attended. We have given the committee 45 days to complete the merger,” Gill said.

The members of include Chander Sekhar (Chandigarh), Charanjit Singh (Delhi), Dinesh Reddy (AP), RK Shetty (Karnataka), Pratap Satpatty (Orissa) and H Khiangte (Mizoram).

Sources within HI and IHF said the seeds of the merger between the two sides were sown by international hockey federation chief Leandro Negre. Negre, during his last visit to the country in April met with Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief Suresh Kalmadi and gave him the option of joining forces with the Indian federation to form a unified body at the earliest. He then held talks with Gill and discussed the possibility of the patch up with him.

“But most of the talks between Gill and Kalmadi happened in last one and a half weeks,” the source said. Kalmadi, along with Khan, met Gill in New Delhi and worked on the details of the merger. Gill’s feud with JB Roy, the secretary of the Bengal Hockey Association, further enhanced the prospects of IHF and HI joining hands.

“Then it was only a matter of time as this was a win-win situation for both the parties. The state units under IHF now are back in the thick of action and HI will get the support of the associations to conduct the elections,” the source added.

Gill said he won’t contest for any position in HI and it is believed he might be given a ‘honourary membership’.