FIH no to ad-hoc committee, IOA seeks compromise formula
Uthra Ganesan
New Delhi: After dragging its feet over the issue for almost a year since the suspension of KPS Gill and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been forced to get its act together towards forming Hockey India.
International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Leandro Negre’s three-day visit culminated on Thursday with a warning that India could lose the hosting rights for the 2010 World Cup if an elected body is not put into place by September this year.
And with the FIH stating clearly that they would not hesitate to move the event — Malaysia has already been decided upon as alternate hosts in what the FIH calls Plan B — the IOA is exploring all options to ensure the premier event remains in India.
“The FIH is determined to host the World Cup in India. Our goal is to have the best World Cup in Delhi, but the event can’t be held without a federation. India need a unified body to run hockey before the World Cup. It is essential,” Negre told reporters.
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“We will support them, but the FIH won’t get involved in any internal affairs. It is up to the Indian authorities to resolve the issue,” he said.
IOA secretary general Randhir Singh hastened to clarify that a situation where India lost the hosting rights wouldn’t arise.
“We are holding meetings with the women’s federation and will come out with a solution very soon. We are working on a plan with FIH,” he said.
Return of Gill?
However, given the fact that there’s little time left, the IOA and the ad-hoc committee are exploring all available options. In fact, sources say that there might even be an out-of-court settlement with KPS Gill in order to eliminate any legal hurdle and expedite the unification process.
“There have been talks with KPS Gill for an out-of-court settlement and a final decision is likely to take effect soon,” a senior official told The Indian Express. “The deal would primarily entail both the IOA and Gill taking back their respective legal cases. That would ease IOA’s future plans and also give Gill a clean chit,” the official added.
Ad-hoc committee convenor Mohammed Aslam Khan said he had no idea about any talks with KPS Gill. While Randhir Singh would not comment immediately on the issue, Gill refused to talk altogether.
However, sources confirmed the development and said that after the settlement, an elected body would be formed in the country which would conduct the World Cup, and would also include representatives from the women’s association.
The deal would also enable Gill to fight the elections, though he has repeatedly stressed that he does not want to contest again.
India’s performance
Negre, in fact, also expressed concern that though the Indian team had made progress in recent tournaments, a strong showing by the host nation is essential to the success of the World Cup. “For organising the World Cup in New Delhi, we need a good performance from India. Their performance hasn’t been good in the past few years,” he said.
Negre also expressed satisfaction with the infrastructure and security and said besides the formation of Hockey India, there would not be any other issues in the way of India’s hosting rights.
“We are really very pleased. We are happy with the venues and the facilities are incredible. Security is an important issue anywhere in the world (but) the IOA and the government has given us guarantees on security and we are satisfied,” he said.
Courtesy: Indian Express