The “one state, one asscociation’, formula proposed by the FIH (International Hockey Federation), doesn’t seem to have gone down well with the hockey associations in Maharashtra.

They have come together to oppose this action and on Wednesday, former national coach Jaoquim Carvalho informed that they would take legal actions against it’s implementation.

Three state associations -the Mumbai Hockey Association along with the Vidarbha Hockey Association and the Maharashtra Hockey Association -claimed that the decision to form `Hockey India’ was taken hastily by the Indian Olympic Association by inducting six of its officials from disciplines other than hockey.

Carvalho said the MHA had its own identity and by merging all three associations, the players would be affected. Pointing out that it would lead to loss of job opportunities for players, he added that the move to merge of the men’s and women’s body was welcome. There are four states in the country that have more than one hockey association — Maharashtra (three), Madhya Pradesh (three), Punjab (two) and Andhra Pradesh (two) and they have all asked that their existing associations be affiliation with HI.