Players under heat from two hockey factions
Its almost 40 degree celsius in India. But we are not here to talk about the hot summer, but the heat the bogus hockey bodies create in this part of the world.
The never-ending war for chair between surrogate Hockey India and rejected outfit Indian Hockey Federation is heating the players. Its actually over-heating.
Even as the Indian team is gearing up for the Azlan Shah Cup, both the ‘apex’ organizations have come out with their own domestic tournaments; Though it is a matter of fact that Indian players will not be available for most part of the tournaments planned.
Indian Hockey Federation has called for the long-forgotten Federation Cup in Jalandhar while Hockey India has called for National championship in New Delhi.
This is perhaps sixth time Hockey India is calling for ‘Nationals’.
It seems now the call is not bogus.
The discarded IHF, on the other hand, all of a sudden remembered a specimen called Federation Cup which was its baby since the early 90s. But the same set of people who did not think it worth to hold it after 1997 Hyderabad edition despite being in hold of the IHF, have now woken up.
Top six or eight teams of the immediate past National Championship play in the Federation Cup first of which was held in Lucknow when RN Prasad was the IHF Chief.
It would have been normal had not politics again raised its ugly head. Hockey India, armed with a procured ‘sanctioned and unsanctioned’ concession from the FIH, has already shot off letters to all departments, who own hockey teams, warning them not to send teams to ‘nonsanctioned tournaments’ meaning the Federation Cup.
One of the salient features of the threatening Hockey India letter is to ensure debarring of any player for the sanctioned event who would have played in the unsanctioned event in the past 12 months.
The players who have signed for World Series Hockey – a mega league planned by the Nimbus channel – are now feeling the heat all the more.
It is pertinent to note here all the probables who attended the recent camp has been given a 5-page letter by HI and all of them signed it en masse. Which gives an idea they are ready to play ball with the new bosses HI despite signing nearly the same agreement with Nimbus.
However, almost every one of them is in confusion as to what will happen to WSH and also under tremendous pressure from both HI and IHF to play for their forgotten tournaments like Federation Cup and National Championship.