New Indian Express: Hockey India Gets CAS Nod, to Merge All Records Under IHF
CHENNAI: With the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the apex body that settles all sporting disputes, ruling in favour of Hockey India and the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the Indian Hockey Federation will finally remain only as a society. It has already been de-recognised by the Indian Olympic Association and the Sports Ministry. But the IHF, former administrators of the national sport, went to court arguing they are the legitimate body to run the sport in the country. The CAS ruling will jeopardise their very entity as a sports body.
Hockey India, which has been running the sport since 2009, are now the undisputed administrators of hockey in the country. “This is the final nail in their coffin. They can exist as a society but as a body to administer sports in India they are non-existent. We always thought we were right and when the government and the IOA recognised us, I don’t know what was the reason IHF was trying to make it into an issue,” observed HI chief Narender Batra on Friday.
This would mean that all associations, which have been previously siding with the IHF, will have to merge with the HI. “Now there’s clarity and we will merge all previous records created under IHF. We will now be able to put it on our website also. Why should players’ records be wiped out? History belongs to India. We have been recognising former players for their contribution towards the game. I just hope they pay expenses of (CHF) 6000 incurred during the proceedings,” he said.
The IHF had filed a petition last year alleging that the High Court of Delhi had quashed the Indian Olympic Association’s decision to disaffiliate the IHF in 2009. Subsequently, the IHF complained to the FIH’s judicial committee that “they had not been given notice of termination of its membership nor of HI’s application of membership, and accordingly had not been able to make representation.” They argued to CAS that the HI “could not qualify for membership since it did not exist as a legal entity at the time of the purported transfer.”
The IHF contended that the FIH applied the incorrect statutes, they should have awaited the outcome of Indian (court) proceedings, and they wrongly applied article 2.4 (d) procedures, which states that the article applies only in circumstances where membership is vacant. However, the panel deemed that the changes were fair and the FIH only applied the valid statutes.
“The changes were neutral in their effect. They did not favour the IHF over HI or HI over the IHF.”