V Narayan Swamy

BANGALORE: Elections to Hockey India may be held towards the end of November if the International Hockey Federation (FIH) is convinced that the process adopted by the national body is transparent enough to warrant its seal of approval.

In a recent communique to the FIH, Hockey India had said that a constitutionally-valid election could be held in November as 19 unified state units and four institutions had been awarded recognition.

November 18 was touted as a possible date for the polls but the FIH felt it had to ascertain a few facts before it could endorse the election call. Hockey India has acceded to the request, top HI sources told TOI.

“We had set a deadline for the unified state bodies to apply for recognition. That ended a few days ago. Going by our constitution, we now have the requisite numbers among state units to hold elections,” the sources said.

“We also decided that units whose applications came after the deadline would be considered only after the new set of HI office-bearers take over. We intimated FIH about this. Since they too are involved in the process, we would like to get their clearance.”

When contacted, FIH president Leandro Negre admitted that there had been a delay in the unification process as well as the elections. “But we know that the process has been set in motion lately and more progress will be made soon. The FIH is in constant contact with Hockey India, the IOA and all people involved. We are monitoring the situation carefully and on a daily basis,” he told TOI in an email interview.

Negre felt that forming a new governing body for hockey, like in any other sport, is very complex. “I am in constant contact with the FIH observer, our vice-president Antonio von Ondarza.

“Progress has been made, but we are still not there. For the FIH, it is extremely important that a democratically elected Hockey India is established. We prefer that the process is handled well instead of rushing it without a good outcome.”

Negre said his message to Hockey India as it approaches the December deadline would be: “Make progress as needed and make sure that the steps that will be taken will be the right ones. We all have the same goal – that of making sure that hockey is revived in India.”