The KPS Gill-led Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) met for a special general body meeting at the India Habitat Centre’s Magnolia Hall on Sunday to take several decision, including deciding on the upcoming age-group tournaments, ratify the minutes of the previous AGM held in April 2010 and work on a structure to merge the men’s and women’s units in the country into one.

The meeting was the first by the IHF after a recent Delhi High Court verdict which quashed the IHF’s suspension and de-recognition by the Indian Olympic Association and the Sport Ministry. The meeting, which went on for about two hours, did not come to any definite conclusion but Gill did hinted at not contesting any elections again.

“I agree with the ministry guidelines to put an age limit and a tenure limit to office bearers of national sports federations,” he told reporters assembled at the venue.

Gill has served at the national federation since 1994.

A decision was also taken to form a sub-committee to work with the IWHF (which has scheduled a meeting of its own on June 12, next Saturday) and work out the modalities of forming a single unit at the national level. So far, there has been the Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC) which used to represent India in the FIH while there were two separate bodies – IHF and IWHF – at the national level working out a mutual agreement. Now, there is a proposal to merge them formally to avoid any repeat of whatever has happened with the entire Hockey India fiasco.

“I am willing to sit with Hockey India people and anyone else concerned with hockey in the country to find a solution to all the ongoing issues and bring Indian hockey back on track,” Gill said.

However, state units are likely to be allowed to function as usual “The FIH has never said there should be a merger of units at the state level also. They only want a single unit representing men’s and women’s hockey in the country,” one of the state association presidents present at the meeting said.

Sunday’s meeting was also attended by Shankar Lal, under-secretary in the sports ministry, as the government observer. Lal, however, refused to comment on the meeting, which was attended by 51 members from 29 state units. “I am not authorised to comment upon it. I will only submit my report on this, as well as the meeting by the women’s federation and Hockey India, to the ministry,” he said.

Interestingly, HI have also called for a meeting of their respective “affiliated units” for a meeting on June 14 and it would be interesting to see how many from Sunday’s meeting attend that one also.

Besides IHF and IWHF, the Hockey India also called for an AGM next week, so the first in the series of AGMs has started.

Even these AGMs go on on the political fields of Delhi, players are attending another of training camps at Pune.