Was Hockey India recognised before it existed?
By Mihir Vasavda | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Did the International Hockey Federation (FIH) grant membership to Hockey India (HI) as the sport’s governing body in the country long before it actually came into existence?
Documents in possession with DNA state that the FIH congress unanimously approved the transfer of membership from the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) to HI on November 29, 2008. HI was formed six months later, on May 20, 2009. Els van Breda Vriesman was the FIH president then.
The reasons why FIH approved the transfer of membership to HI while it didn’t even exist are several. But according to former HI secretary general Mohammad Aslam Khan, who attended that particular FIH congress, it was “the world governing body’s financial interest in India that led to such a farcical decision.”
“It is true that HI was just an idea when it was granted membership by the FIH,” Khan said. “HI was formed in the Commonwealth Games office in the presence of four-five people. There was no election and no legal steps were followed,” Khan said.
HI was formed in 2009 following the suspension of IHF after K Jyothikumaran, IHF’s secretary, was caught in a sting operation. HI secretary general Narendra Batra said the decision taken at the FIH congress was an agreement in principle. “HI got the official recognition from IOA and FIH after it was formed in May. I am not aware of all the intricacies because I became involved in the administration much later,” Batra said.
HI life patron Vidya Stokes and the secretary general of the erstwhile Indian Women Hockey Federation Amrit Bose accompanied Khan to the FIH congress in Los Angeles. At that time, Khan was the convenor of the ad hoc committee that was formed by the IOA to run hockey in India.
“The money in India is too much to ignore and the FIH realises that,” said Khan, who quit as the secretary general in November 2009 after HI failed to elect a democratically elected body.
While the FIH made no comment on its alleged ‘financial interests’ in India, its communications manager Jenny Wiedeke said they were not in a position to comment on this subject right now. “Unfortunately, I know nothing about the background from the various congress decisions,” Wiedeke said.
“I am currently out of the office at the Champions Challenge and Champions Trophy events. I will not be able to supply you with an answer until I return to the office and go through the archives.”