Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The International Hockey federation (FIH) has expressed its displeasure at the manner in which Hockey India (HI) has gone about the affiliation of its units and the election process.

In a communication to Hockey India President A.K. Mattoo, the FIH has sought clarifications on a number of aspects in the draft election by-laws.

FIH Vice-President Antonio Von Ondarza has raised objections regarding office-bearers as defined by HI and also the process of elections where the by-laws of HI state “office- bearers and members of Executive Board of HI shall be elected by secret ballot or any other mode duly approved by the General Council before every election.”

Mr. Ondarza says, “There is confusion about who are office-bearers. ‘Office-bearers’ are defined in clause 3.1 of the constitution. That clause refers to clause 8.5, however, this clause has been omitted from the copy of the constitution in my possession. In an earlier copy of the constitution, office-bearers were defined as the President, Hon. Secretary-General, Hon Treasurer and 2 Senior Vice-presidents. This must be resolved.”

The FIH vice-president adds, “I have an apprehension that the constitution lodged for registration may have been changed from the draft (I prepared) which was approved by FIH. The only way to resolve this is to see the constitution that was approved by the Indian authorities.”

Mr. Ondarza questions the motives of the move. “Rule 2 (1) of the proposed rules refers to Rule 4 (a) — there is no Rule 4 (a)!! This Rule 2 (1) then states “The Executive Board of HI shall consist of 12 office-bearers.” This is quite incorrect. Rules 4 (1) and 4 (2) should be deleted. The rules cannot change the provisions of the constitution.”

Taking up the issue, the Union Government also has demanded transparency in the election process.

In a letter to HI, the Union Sports Ministry has pointed out “major changes in the draft” from the one prepared in the first place. The changes, claims the ministry, “impinge on the basic character and transparency of the election process.”

Election method

The government has objected to the election method. “The earlier draft provided for election of office-bearers and members of the Executive Board by secret ballot, but the revised draft dilutes its own provisions by allowing the General Council to decide on any other mode of election.

The provisions relating to scrutiny of nominations, poll, counting of votes, etc have been omitted in the revised draft,” the ministry has written to HI.

In a warning, the ministry has told HI, “Any dilution in the election process, which would adversely affect its fairness and transparency, would be unacceptable to the Government,” the ministry has written.

The ministry has pointed out that autonomy would not exempt the national governing body of any sport from the principles of public accountability, transparency and fair elections. The revised draft by-laws dealing with elections were totally unacceptable to the Government, the ministry has stated.

The ministry has firmly asked HI to work on the original draft and consider the proposal of the election observer (S.K. Mendiratta) that a well laid down time schedule for different stages of the election process, including notification of candidates and date of poll, be adopted before the elections.

In his latest communication to the ministry on Thursday, a copy of which has been sent to HI, Mr. Ondarza stated that the FIH as well as the ministry wanted “clear and transparent elections not subjected to any later misinterpretation or unclear procedures and results”.

The FIH official also said that the FIH and the Government were only seeking to put the ‘old chapter’ behind and start with a “clear and undisputed Hockey India”.