New Delhi, July 9: Apprehensive of dissolved Indian Hockey Federation boss KPS Gill’s intention, organisers of the Junior Asia Cup are reluctant to take any chance and planning to buy a new trophy for the event which gets underway in Hyderabad on Friday.
The original running trophy remains with Gill and the former IHF President said he was ready to hand it over but only to the Hyderabad Hockey Association (HHA), an assurance that could not really convince Aslam Sher Khan, the man in charge of the event.
Sher Khan said that HHA has no right to collect the trophy from Gill and it is only Gill’s tactics to undermine the ad-hoc committee, which has replaced IHF to run the game in the country.
“Till now we haven’t received the trophy from IHF and to be honest chances are very less,” Sher Khan, President of the Organising Committee and also chairman of the ad-hoc selection committee, said from Bhopal.
“I doubt he (Gill) will give us the trophy at all. The ad-hoc committee is conducting the tournament on its own and we are prepared to buy a new trophy and present it to the winners,” he said.
He also doubted Gill’s sincerity to return the silverware. “Right now Gill is under pressure. How can he ask HHA to collect the trophy as they are not organising the tournament? I am the President of the tournament and he should have returned the trophy to me. For the last three months we have been asking Gill to hand over the accounts and all international trophies in possession of the IHF to the ad-hoc committee, but nothing has happened till date,” he said.
The former Olympian went on to allege that Gill had been trying every trick to create problem for the ad-hoc committee. “The ad-hoc committee for long has been asking Gill to hand over the charge of IHF to us, but he is adamant not to give us as he simply doesn’t recognises the committee. Anyway, ultimately he has to bow down,” he said.
“Such is the audacity of Gill that even the IHF office clerk ignores Indian Olympic Association’s order of handing over the office keys to the ad-hoc committee,” Sher Khan alleged.
Meanwhile, joint secretary in the Sports Ministry I Srinivas expressed hopes on Wednesday that Gill would return the trophy. “Although we don’t have no such information (that Gill may not return it) but we don’t think he would be so immature,” Srinivas said.