HI, IHF join hands; WSH gets a boost

NEW DELHI: Ending the long impasse over power sharing in Indian hockey, Hockey India (HI) and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) on Monday decided to join hands to run the ‘national game’. But amidst the truce a key question remained unanswered: can they administer the game together?

The development came following a meeting in the Capital – facilitated by the sports ministry – between HI and IHF officials. After the meeting, both parties signed an agreement accepting to work together to run hockey in the country. However, it appears that HI has conceded to IHF on some grounds in the wake of the last-minute failure of talks between the parties 10 days ago.

“The combined body which will work towards a formal merger will undertake selection of national teams, preparation of national teams and participation of the national teams in international tournaments including the 2012 London Olympics,” the sports ministry said in a statement.

Both the parties will, however, continue to be separate legal entities under the proposed arrangement. “But this would not prevent them from exploring the possibility of forming a confederation or opting for amalgamation at a later date based on mutual consent,” stated the minutes of the meeting, signed by HI as well as IHF officials.

Under the proposed arrangement, HI and IHF will set up a joint executive board for limited purposes. Its tenure would be till December 31, 2012. The parties also agreed to change the name of Hockey India and some of the possible names discussed were Bharat Hockey, Hockey Bharat and India Hockey.

The joint executive board would be chaired by the HI president and co-chaired by IHF president. HI also confirmed in the meeting that they would not impose any restrictions on players’ participation in the proposed World Series League being organised by IHF. “This will be subject to training schedule for the national camps and duration for which the players can be spared for such participation,” the minutes stated.

“The ministry would now grant provisional recognition to HI as national sports federation and maintain status quo in respect of the recognition of IHF as the national sports federation for hockey up to December 31, 2012,” it added.

The agreement formula was proposed by sports minister Ajay Maken, who was in New York heading a delegation to United Nations. Maken spoke to both the parties and officials from the ministry after the deadlock ended.

Maken in a message expressed the hope that the development would end the “prevalent uncertainty for players and participation of our teams in international tournaments and would eventually lead to the welfare of our national game”.

On July 15, the both HI and IHF had come close to a settlement, but the talks failed after IHF came up with fresh demands at the last minutes. Hockey India secretary Narinder Batra said KPS Gill, former IHF president, will remain a mentor.

FROM CRISIS TO RESOLUTION…

April 2008: Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) suspended by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) after a TV channel shows its secretary allegedly taking bribes for selection of a player. IOA forms an ad-hoc committee to run the game

May 2009: Hockey India formed after the International Hockey Federation ( FIH)) threatens to take away the 2010 World Cup in absence of a proper body

May 2010: IHF gets a lifeline after Delhi High Court quashes government’s order derecognising it

August 2010: Hockey India holds its elections and elects vidya Stokes as president and Narender Batra as secretary

Oct 2010: Vidya Stokes resigns

Dec 2010: Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) holds elections and elects RK Shetty as president in place of KPS Gill. Ashok Mathur picked as secretary

June 2011: Sports ministry proposes to merge the two bodies

July 15, 2011: Talks fail after IHF officials came up with fresh set of demands at the last minute

July 25, 2011: The two parties talk again and come up with a solution