Rival faction urges govt to step in
OUR CORRESPONDENT

Mumbai: The disgruntled hockey state units, headed by the Bengal Hockey Association president J.B. Roy and the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation secretary Amrit Bose, have sought the government’s intervention in the matter of Hockey India being formed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Sources said that Roy and Bose have written to the Prime Minister and the President and met the sports minister M.S. Gill this week in Delhi, seeking their help to ensure Hockey India was formed in a fair and democratic manner without compromising the rights of the existing state associations.

The faction’s move comes after the IOA began the process of merging the men’s and women’s hockey bodies by asking the state Olympic associations to disaffiliate the current hockey set-ups in their respective states and put in place an unified ad hoc body.

“There is a threat to our state units through the Olympic associations.

“Some of the member bodies have served Indian hockey for decades and you cannot disaffiliate them just like that,” Bose told The Telegraph.

Sources said the Rajasthan and Goa associations have already been disaffiliated. But it could be tricky in states with multiple governing bodies.

For instance, in Maharashtra, there are three bodies governing the game — the Mumbai Hockey Association, the Maharashtra State Hockey Association and the Vidarbha Hockey Association.

Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are the other states with more than one administration.

But taking on the IOA might be too much for the state units, and with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) granting recognition to Hockey India, the opposition has started to melt already.

“I think we should go with Hockey India, get the affiliation and then take it from there. This is in the interest of our players.

Otherwise there are camps and tournaments that will suffer,” said the Karnataka Hockey Association secretary, K. Krishnamurthy.